No one should be surprised that we are now talking about the 6th measles death of the year.
After all, measles cases continue to rise, reaching record-breaking levels.
Let’s Talk About the 6th Measles Death of the Year
So what do we know about this latest death?
We know that she was 39 years old and had underlying conditions.
And since her death meets the definition set forth by the Pennsylvania Department of Health for a measles-associated death, we know that her measles symptom began in the past 30 days and that she had clinical evidence of a measles infection and a positive laboratory test and that her death was not due to an unrelated cause.
How do we know all that?
“A confirmed measles-associated death is a death that occurs within 30 days of symptom onset in an individual with clinical evidence of a measles infection and a positive laboratory test and that is not due to unrelated causes (e.g., motor vehicle accident)… A death would not be determined to be measles-associated if there was no laboratory evidence of measles infection or if the death was determined to be due to other unrelated causes (e.g., motor vehicle accident).”
Measles-Associated Death Definition
We know all of that because that is how the Pennsylvania Department of Health defines a measles-associated death.
But why does the coroner’s announcement mention a past diagnosis of measles with treatment?
It is likely because she had recovered from her initial measles symptoms - the fever, rash, cough, etc.—but didn’t survive a complication of measles.
What kind of complication?
Tragically, there are many, including secondary bacterial pneumonia, persistent measles pneumonia, acute postinfectious encephalitis (ADEM), subacute measles encephalitis (MIBE), or even a complication of one of her underlying conditions that was worsened by measles.
Most importantly, just know that she died because she had measles.
And no, it doesn’t matter that she had several underlying conditions.
In fact, it’s because there are people with these types of underlying conditions that we need herd immunity levels of protection!
What else?
These deaths are preventable.
Stop the outbreaks.
thank you for sharing this information.