Update on the Pennsylvania Measles Outbreak: 1,000 Cases and 5 Deaths

         

    There have been nearly 1,000 cases of measles in Pennsylvania’s worst outbreak in three decades, with five associated deaths also recorded.  As I have been posting, measles, the most contagious diseases, is a deadly virus that had been eradicated in America and in Europe but has returned because of vaccine hesitancy, even though the vaccine is effective and safe.  Lancaster County, where Anabaptists (Amish, Mennonite, etc.) are concentrated, is the main focal point of the outbreak, as the Anabaptists tend not to vaccinate.   The latest reported death was of a young Amish woman.  Although most cases are mild, measles can lead to hospitalization, organ failure, deafness (it was the leading cause of childhood deafness before immunization) and even death.