{"id":276340,"date":"2026-09-01T07:04:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T07:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/276340\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T07:04:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T07:04:19","slug":"pennsylvania-measles-outbreak-reaches-497-cases-across-34-counties-doh-reports-pennsylvania-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/276340\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania measles outbreak reaches 497 cases across 34 counties, DOH reports | Pennsylvania News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>HARRISBURG, Pa. \u2013 497 measles cases have been confirmed across 34 counties in Pennsylvania so far in 2026, according to a news release from The Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH).<\/p>\n<p>The Department says it continues its robust response to the ongoing measles outbreak and provides Pennsylvanians with updated information on cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.<\/p>\n<p>While daily numbers fluctuate, tracking these trends provides Pennsylvanians and health care providers with visibility into community transmission across the Commonwealth and helps inform the Department\u2019s ongoing response.<\/p>\n<p>Key updates, according to DOH, include:<\/p>\n<p>New Positive Cases (since August 28, 2026): 37<\/p>\n<p>Total Counties: 34<\/p>\n<p>Total Cumulative Cases: 497<\/p>\n<p>Total Hospitalizations: 87<\/p>\n<p>Total Cumulative Measles-Associated Deaths: 2<\/p>\n<p>Pennsylvanians can stay up to date on confirmed measles cases, hospitalizations, deaths, community transmission, and vaccination efforts on DOH\u2019s dashboard: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pa.gov\/agencies\/health\/diseases-conditions\/infectious-disease\/measles\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pa.gov\/measles<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Getting Vaccinated<\/p>\n<p>DOH officials say the best protection against measles is getting fully vaccinated. The measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is given in a two-dose series and provides 97 percent protection against measles after two doses.<\/p>\n<p>MMR vaccine is available across the state by contacting a health care provider, county or municipal health department, DOH State Health Center, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), or a Vaccines for Children (VFC) program, according to the release.<\/p>\n<p>Measles Symptoms and Transmission<\/p>\n<p>Measles is a highly contagious virus that can cause serious short- and long-term health problems including pneumonia and brain swelling, with nearly 20 percent of people who contract measles being hospitalized. Death from measles, though rare, occurs in one to three patients per 1,000 cases, according to the DOH.<\/p>\n<p>Officials say measles spreads when a person who is infected breathes, coughs, or sneezes. The virus remains infectious in the air and on surfaces for up to two hours after the person with the infection leaves the area.<\/p>\n<p>Symptoms begin with fever, cough, runny nose, and red, watery eyes (conjunctivitis), followed by a rash that starts on the head and spreads downward. Without proper protection or supportive care, measles can be deadly. The release says symptoms can start 7 to 21 days after exposure.<\/p>\n<p>People who believe they were exposed to measles, and are experiencing symptoms, should contact their health care provider or call DOH\u2019s toll-free hotline at 877-PA-HEALTH (877-724-3258).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HARRISBURG, Pa. \u2013 497 measles cases have been confirmed across 34 counties in Pennsylvania so far in 2026,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276341,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[115890,48408,40433,42687,4913,52934,50383,28,30,29,2303,1394],"class_list":["post-276340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-community-transmission","tag-department-of-health","tag-hospitalization","tag-infectious-disease","tag-measles","tag-mmr-vaccine","tag-outbreak","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-public-health","tag-vaccination"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}