Bad newsChild Dies of Measles in New York, the First Such Death in 30 Years
New York health officials said on 2 November that a child in Lewis County died in connection with the state’s measles outbreak. The US has now reported more than 4,800 cases this year, the most since 1991.
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A child in Lewis County, in northern New York, has died in connection with the state’s measles outbreak, the first known measles-associated death in the state in more than 30 years. The New York State Department of Health announced it on Monday 2 November, Reuters reports. Officials have not released the child’s age or vaccination status in the reports read for this story.
The outbreak behind it
Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state disaster emergency over the outbreak last month. As of 24 October New York had reported 178 cases this year, 170 of them outside New York City and eight inside it. CNN reports that Lewis County had 15 cases as of 14 October, all in people who had not received the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The health departments say they are offering MMR shots to unvaccinated people who ask for them and investigating reported cases.
Nationally, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has counted more than 4,800 cases this year, the most since 1991, almost a decade before measles was declared eliminated in the country. Pennsylvania accounts for more than a quarter of them, with 1,433 confirmed cases and five measles-associated deaths, according to Reuters. The CDC itself has recorded three measles deaths this year without naming the states. Reuters says the gap follows a change under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with the CDC now using the National Center for Health Statistics’ mortality data instead of state health department figures.
What the numbers say about risk
Measles puts about 1 in 5 unvaccinated people in hospital, CNN reports. As many as 1 in 20 children with measles develop pneumonia, the most common cause of death in young children, and 1 in 1,000 develop brain swelling. Two doses of MMR in childhood give 97% protection.
Hochul said in October that New York would seek federal help, but Reuters says she did not confirm a formal request for a CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service team. The Department of Health and Human Services told CNN that the CDC has deployed epidemiologists at the state’s request. The Pan American Health Organization is due to meet next week, and CNN says the US is widely expected to lose the elimination status it has held since 2000.
