Pennsylvania Woman Dies in Measles Outbreak

An unvaccinated 39-year-old woman in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, died after testing positive for measles, becoming the sixth person to die during a state outbreak that has infected more than 1,100 people since April, according to county and state health officials.

The woman died on Saturday, October 10, and had several underlying health conditions, according to an advisory from Franklin County Coroner Jordan Conner. The coroner's office said the death met the Pennsylvania Department of Health definition of a measles death.

According to the coroner's office in an emailed statement to The Washington Post, the primary cause of death was listed as a probable cardiac complication associated with measles.

"Probable acute cardiac event due to possible complications of the measles," the coroner's office said.

The previous five deaths linked to Pennsylvania's measles outbreak involved a newborn, a 6-week-old infant, an 18-year-old, a 20-year-old, and a 40-year-old, according to the report. All were unvaccinated, although the two infants were too young to receive vaccination.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 1,136 measles cases in the state since the beginning of the year as of its latest update on Friday, October 9. The agency said 1,124 cases were part of the current outbreak, which had caused 218 hospitalizations and spread across 41 of the state's 67 counties.

The state outbreak added 157 new cases in the previous week, according to the health department update. A spokesperson for the department said officials were reviewing the latest death case.

"Aware of the new death and is reviewing the case. It will provide an update once the review is complete," a Pennsylvania Department of Health spokesperson said.

Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, but cases have increased as vaccination rates have declined. The national measles count reached 4,080 cases this year, the highest total since 1991, according to the report.

Pennsylvania's outbreak is also the state's largest recorded since 1991, while experts from the Pan American Health Organization are expected to review US measles data in November regarding the country's elimination status.