A fourth death has been linked to measles in Pennsylvania, the state health department said Tuesday.
\n\nAll four deaths have been reported in the last month, as Pennsylvania’s measles outbreak continues to grow. They are the first deaths associated with measles in the state in 35 years.
\n\nIn all of last year, the U.S. recorded three measles deaths.
\n\nPennsylvania’s health department said in a news release Tuesday that the two people who died most recently were from Jefferson and Mifflin counties. Both were unvaccinated, the department said.
\n\nThe Mifflin County coroner said Tuesday that an 18-year-old resident died “due to complications of measles,” specifically, a rare and severe neurological condition that causes inflammation in the brain. The Jefferson County resident was a 40-year-old woman with asthma and severe lung disease who died on Saturday, the county coroner previously reported.
\n\nThe two deaths in Lancaster County were in infants: a newborn who died shortly after birth and a 6-week-old. The county coroner has said he believes measles was only the cause of death for the 6-week-old baby. In the case of the newborn, the coroner said he found evidence of the measles virus in the infant’s lung tissue but considered the…
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