Possible measles exposure reported at CHOP as cases continue to rise in Pennsylvania
PHILADELPHIA —
Pennsylvania is seeing another jump in measles cases with 36 new cases reported since Wednesday across 38 counties.
Montgomery County is reporting three measles cases, its first cases this year.
Lancaster County continues to be a hotbed, with 16 new cases reported.
So far this year, there have been 767 measles cases in Pennsylvania with four measles-related deaths.
However, the CDC is still not recognizing those four deaths on its measles dashboard despite calls to do so from Governor Josh Shapiro and the state health department.
The DOH is now using that recognition as a condition as part of its request for emergency assistance from the agency to help control the outbreak.
In a letter, Secretary of Health Doctor Debra Bogen said, “While the CDC Epi-Aid program is an important public health resource, for the program to be valuable to Pennsylvania’s measles outbreak response, I must be able to assure the public health professionals on my team that the resources we are bringing in to assist with their tireless work will not undermine their efforts and will partner with them toward a common goal, including publication of timely, accurate information about the outbreak.”
Possible exposure reported at CHOP
A possible exposure was reported at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia last week, according to the city’s DOH.
The possible exposure happened on Friday at various times throughout the day.
Officials are working to make sure that all infants in CHOP’s NICU get a “preventative antibody product” that will help prevent them from contracting measles and spreading it.