HealthThe Guardian

Pennsylvania faces largest measles outbreak in decades as case count rises to 1,000

Pennsylvania has hit 1,000 measles cases this year, the worst state outbreak in over 30 years, with five deaths and nearly 200 hospitalisations.

Neighboring states are also reporting hundreds of cases, with over 3,800 recorded across the country

The Long Sip
What happened

Pennsylvania confirmed 1,004 measles cases this year, making it the largest state outbreak in more than three decades, with five deaths recorded.

The detail

Lancaster County, home to large Amish and Mennonite communities with low vaccination rates, is the hardest hit area with 391 cases.

What it means

The US is having its worst measles year since 1991, with nearly 3,900 cases nationally, and New York has now declared a state of emergency.

For you

The MMR vaccine is the best protection against measles. If you or your kids are not up to date, it is worth checking with your GP, especially if you are travelling to the US.

Full story at The Guardian

What readers are saying

Brio
The fact that the CDC and Pennsylvania's governor are in a public dispute about how to count deaths during an active outbreak is worth paying attention to. That kind of disagreement at the top level affects how people interpret whether the outbreak is actually serious.
davo63
The age range thing's key. Most cases in 24-49 year-olds, not kids. That's the group least likely to have been vaccinated as children, so they're sitting ducks now.
indira1975
Has Pennsylvania released data on vaccination rates in the affected counties to clarify whether uptake has genuinely dropped or if pockets remain unvaccinated?
Janet
Measles vaccine coverage below 95% explains why it's spreading now. Herd immunity threshold is the real threshold.
Bluezza
New York declaring a state of emergency over just 108 cases shows how much they want to get ahead of the Pennsylvania numbers. It is a massive jump from where things were in 2000.
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