Westmoreland County confirms first case of measles

It is unclear where in Westmoreland County the case was reported and whether the patient has been hospitalized.

TribLive

Pennsylvania Department of Health data show 94 new measles cases have cropped up throughout the state in the last seven days, including the first case in Westmoreland County.

This comes one day after Butler County reported its first case, and two deaths were reported in Lancaster County.

According to an online tracker, there have been 424 measles cases in the state of Pennsylvania this year, with single cases reported in Allegheny, Indiana, Westmoreland, Butler and Clairon counties.

Health department data show none of the cases occurred in people who were fully vaccinated, and about 32% of cases affected people under the age of 18.

Two Lancaster County residents recently died in the first measles-related deaths Pennsylvania has seen in 35 years, according to health officials.

Last year, three people died from the disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The health department’s information shows 73 people have been hospitalized with measles so far this year.

A measles case was confirmed at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh last week, and Butler County recently saw its first case appear in Buffalo Township.

Health officials have blamed declining vaccination rates for the spread in a disease that has been mostly eradicated.

About a week after the first case of measles was diagnosed in Allegheny County, the “vast majority” of those potentially exposed have been notified, according to Dr. Donald Yealy, UPMC’s chief medical officer and chair of its emergency medicine department.

The case was confirmed last Thursday at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Barry Ciccocioppo, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, told TribLive the patient was from Jefferson County, about 90 minutes northeast of Pittsburgh.

Jefferson County has had 12 confirmed cases of measles since April — the most in western Pennsylvania — according to health department data.

The department said the unvaccinated person had visited the hospital Aug. 12 and Aug. 18.

Yealy told TribLive contact tracing is “going well” but is not yet complete. He declined to say how many people were potentially exposed.

Ronnie Das, an Allegheny County Health Department spokesman, said the department was not responsible for the contact tracing since the patient is not from the county.

Das said the county health department’s only role would be to “issue quarantine letters for county residents’ cases who are not immune.”

Ciccocioppo said the state health department’s investigation is “an ongoing process.” He said he was unsure of the number of people potentially exposed and notified so far.

“When an exposure occurs, (the health department) identifies anyone who was in contact with the person with measles,” Ciccocioppo said in a statement. “(The department) then checks whether those people are already vaccinated or previously had measles, thus making them immune. If they are, no further action is needed.”

For unvaccinated people exposed to measles, the department instructs them to stay home and quarantine for 21 days, whether they are showing symptoms or not. That period can be extended if the person is subsequently exposed, Ciccocioppo said.

The instruction to quarantine is lifted if an unvaccinated person receives a single dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine within 72 hours of exposure, which he said “can generate an immediate immune response that may provide protection against a measles infection.”

On Tuesday, the state health department confirmed that two Lancaster County residents had died of measles — likely the first measles related fatalities in the U.S. this year. It did not offer any information about the people other than they were unvaccinated.

Pennsylvania had confirmed almost 400 cases of measles this year as of Monday. Nearly half were in Lancaster County.

That’s the third-most cases of any state. Only South Carolina and Utah have more confirmed cases.

Nationwide, measles has infected more than 2,700 people this year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Among the confirmed measles cases this year in Pennsylvania, none of the patients were fully vaccinated.

Health officials have consistently pointed to sinking vaccination rates as the reason for the rebound of measles in the country.

Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen on Tuesday encouraged Pennsylvanians to get vaccinated — a sentiment almost universally accepted by doctors.