Wisconsin infant death makes third measles fatality in a week
Seven Lights
An unvaccinated infant in southwestern Wisconsin died of measles, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services said Thursday, the state’s first measles death since 1990. A coroner listed measles as the infant’s immediate cause of death. Officials withheld the location and further details to protect the family’s privacy.
The death was the third measles-associated fatality reported in the United States this week. New York confirmed Monday that a child in Lewis County, in the north country near the Canadian border, died of the disease; Pennsylvania reported Wednesday that an unvaccinated adult in Jefferson County had died, the state’s sixth measles death this year. New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, declared a statewide disaster emergency over measles in early October.
At least eight people have died of measles in the United States this year, the highest national death toll since 1991. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed four of the deaths and said it would update its count “as additional information becomes available and relevant reviews are completed.” According to state health departments, none of the eight who died had been vaccinated; some were ineligible because of their age or health status. The first dose of the vaccine is typically given around a child’s first birthday.
State reported numbers have run ahead of the CDC’s tally, STAT reported, a gap that complicates the national picture as outbreaks spread through under-vaccinated communities. Measles, eliminated from the United States in 2000, has returned through sustained transmission clusters, including outbreaks in Texas and the Great Lakes region this year.
Health authorities credit declining childhood vaccination rates with the resurgence. Dr. Stephanie Schauer, the immunization program director at the Wisconsin health department, said some chains of transmission there began when residents traveled out of state to events such as funerals and weddings. The CDC’s count of confirmed deaths will determine the official toll for the year. State health departments in the affected regions continued outbreak response and vaccination outreach as the count stood at eight.