Pennsylvania reports two deaths from measles, health department says
The two deaths were among unvaccinated Lancaster County residents as Pennsylvania reported 393 measles cases statewide this year, officials said.
- On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported two measles-related deaths in Lancaster County, marking the first fatalities from the disease in the state in 35 years.
- Lancaster remains the center of a major measles outbreak that has sickened nearly 400 people across 28 Pennsylvania counties this year, with children comprising about one-third of cases.
- The MMR vaccine provides 97% lifetime protection against measles, yet health officials noted that none of the patients diagnosed this year in Pennsylvania were fully vaccinated.
- Secretary of Health Dr. Debra Bogen warned that measles can cause serious complications including pneumonia and brain swelling, while expressing sympathy for the affected families.
- Pennsylvania reports the third-highest number of measles cases in the U.S. for 2026, while the World Health Organization states that about 95% community vaccination is required for herd immunity.
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These deaths, together with three other deaths in 2025, occurred in people who were not vaccinated, a quarter of a century after the disease had been declared eradicated from the country through vaccination.
These are the first recorded cases in 35 years in the State, which is not the only one experiencing an outbreak.
The measles were almost exterminated in the USA, for decades there were only sporadic outbreaks. Since the vaccination skeptic Kennedy Jr. heads the Department of Health, the disease is back. In Pennsylvania there are now two deaths.
First two U.S. measles outbreak victims of 2026 were unvaccinated, Pennsylvania officials say
Two unvaccinated people have died of measles in Pennsylvania, marking the first U.S. deaths this year as the country grapples with the largest outbreak of the disease in three decades.
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