NEWARK, Del. (WPVI) — Measles cases in Pennsylvania now top 1,300, with 31 new ones reported since Monday.<\/p>\n
Two more counties have cases, too, bringing the county total to 44.<\/p>\n
Pregnant women are becoming a major concern.<\/p>\n
More than 60 are among the 1,317 reported cases, but health experts believe the official tally is an undercount because not all cases are being reported.<\/p>\n
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has issued an alert giving healthcare providers guidance for caring for pregnant patients.<\/p>\n
Dr. Pamela Bailey, an infectious disease specialist at ChristianaCare, says pregnancy lowers immunity, making moms-to-be more vulnerable to complications such as miscarriages, stillbirths, or premature births.<\/p>\n
Dr. Bailey says babies face risks, too, both from prematurity and the virus itself.<\/p>\n
“Measles, as I mentioned, is very inflammatory and so it can cause a lot of difficulties with respiration or breathing,” she says.<\/p>\n
The MMR vaccine can’t be given during pregnancy because it is a live virus, so ChristianaCare doctors are asking women of childbearing age to check their vaccine status, or get vaccinated if they don’t know it.<\/p>\n
The MMR vaccine is safe within 28 days of pregnancy, after delivery, and for breastfeeding mothers.<\/p>\n
It does not go into breast milk.<\/p>\n
Dr. Bailey says she’s happy for the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s alert, since measles has been so rare until recently that most doctors haven’t had much experience with it.<\/p>\n
ChristianaCare has had some measles at its Chester County and Maryland facilities.<\/p>\n
Chester County has had 92 cases, the third most cases in Pennsylvania after Lancaster County with 457 and Mifflin County with 193 cases.<\/p>\n
A CDC infectious disease expert this week joined the 300 state health workers trying to stop the outbreak.<\/p>\n
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