The Pennsylvania Department of Health announced two deaths associated with measles in Lancaster County last week.<\/p>\n
The Aug. 25 announcement<\/a> marked the first measles-related fatalities in Pennsylvania in over three decades, sparking a national debate over the validity of the state\u2019s determination. Here\u2019s what happened, explained by Penn Medicine physicians and other experts.<\/p>\n Shortly after a press conference on the outbreak, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr. suggested<\/a> that the deaths may have been \u201caltogether fabricated\u201d by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro\u2019s office.<\/p>\n \u201cGovernor Shapiro\u2019s unseemly rush to Lancaster County to convene a national press conference and his giddy delight in announcing two measles deaths was a morose commentary on the contemporary political dialogue,\u201d Kennedy wrote<\/a> on social media.<\/p>\n After the health department confirmed<\/a> one victim was an infant, the Lancaster County coroner claimed<\/a> the baby died from an internal hemorrhage and ruptured spleen.<\/p>\n Get the DP delivered straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n Sign Up<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cOnce a spleen is ruptured, it\u2019s difficult to tell whether it was enlarged,\u201d Perelman School of Medicine Professor of Vaccinology Paul Offit wrote<\/a> in an Aug. 29 article. \u201cWe know that measles infections can increase splenic fragility leading to rupture; and we know that splenic rupture is extraordinarily rare in newborns.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Judith O\u2019Donnell, the University of Pennsylvania Health System\u2019s chief medical officer for Healthcare Epidemiology, there are few other reasons \u201cwhy the baby would have had a ruptured spleen.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think we should be having a significant debate,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said in an interview. \u201cI think it\u2019s unfortunate that we\u2019re parsing this in a way to try to say the baby didn\u2019t die of measles.\u201d<\/p>\n As of Sept. 3, there are 540 reported<\/a> measles cases in Pennsylvania, with 242 confirmed in Lancaster County. None of those infected<\/a> are fully vaccinated.<\/p>\n While no cases have been reported in Philadelphia, O\u2019Donnell called for all Pennsylvanians to be \u201cmindful\u201d of the \u201csustained outbreak.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re a Philadelphian and you have somehow not ever been vaccinated, you should be very aware of that, and you should be getting vaccinated,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said.<\/p>\n She explained that this is due to \u201cvast differences in baseline immunization rates.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt shows how a high level of immunity in a population like Philadelphia prevents sustained transmission and an outbreak.\u201d<\/p>\n The incidents follow an Aug. 10 executive order<\/a> to decrease the number of recommended childhood vaccines and separate the measles, mumps, and rubella combination vaccine. No separate measles vaccine is currently available in the United States.<\/p>\n O\u2019Donnell called changes in vaccine recommendations a \u201ccontributory factor\u201d to recent measles cases.<\/p>\n Infectious diseases professor David Pegues said that bundling vaccines is a \u201csafe\u201d and \u201cconvenient\u201d choice. He added that recommendations to \u201cjust get a measles vaccine\u201d have \u201cnot been endorsed by physicians or vaccine groups.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere would be a real societal cost in terms of needing to take your child more frequently to go see the doctor,\u201d Pegues said.<\/p>\n He also underscored how \u201chighly infectious\u201d the measles virus is.<\/p>\n Philadelphia previously<\/a> faced a measles epidemic in the 1990s. Six children in religious groups that refused immunizations died from the illness. Three children in the surrounding community also died from measles.<\/p>\n \u201cMeasles can cause fatal infections, and is clearly almost 100% preventable when you receive the vaccine,\u201d Pegues added.<\/p>\n In 2000, the United States eliminated<\/a> measles as a result of widespread vaccination.<\/p>\n According to Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy Angela Shen, the number of confirmed measles cases this year has \u201calready exceeded\u201d last year\u2019s total.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have not seen the worst of the storm yet,\u201d Shen said.<\/p>\n Staff reporter Can Doga Bolukbasi covers science and health and can be reached at dolukbasi@thedp.com<\/a>. At Penn, he studies biochemistry. Follow him on X @cdbolukbasi<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pennsylvania Department of Health announced two deaths associated with measles in Lancaster County last week. 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