Pennsylvania Confirms 4 Measles Deaths After Teen, 18, Dies of Rare Brain Complication
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Sep 15
Pennsylvania Confirms 4 Measles Deaths After Teen, 18, Dies of Rare Brain Complication
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Sep 15
Summary
Pennsylvania said its 2026 measles outbreak has now caused four deaths, including an unvaccinated 18-year-old in Mifflin County whose death was tied to acute disseminated encephalomyelitis.
State officials also confirmed a 40-year-old unvaccinated woman in Jefferson County died Saturday of respiratory failure due to measles after lab results returned Monday; COPD and asthma were listed as contributing factors.
The other deaths were a 6-week-old infant in Lancaster County and a newborn who tested positive for measles but whose autopsy found a spleen laceration as the primary cause, though the state still counts it as measles-associated.
The outbreak has reached 693 cases across 38 counties, part of the highest U.S. measles caseload since 1991 and above last year's record.
Those deaths have intensified a feud between Gov. Josh Shapiro and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; the CDC has excluded the two Lancaster County deaths from its national tally but says it is reviewing the new cases.