Pennsylvania reports 12 measles cases in residents, including several in the Philly suburbs
Eight cases are associated with an outbreak in Lancaster County.
Pennsylvania had 12 confirmed cases of measles among state residents and two more involving visitors to the state as of Tuesday, the state health department said.
Eight cases are associated with an outbreak in Lancaster County, where the Pennsylvania Department of Health declared an outbreak involving five cases a month ago.
The latest case was reported last Wednesday in that county. LNP reported that the three most recent cases there were diagnosed in people who were already quarantining after a measles exposure.
Pennsylvania officials also have confirmed two cases in Chester County — one in a county resident and another in a person visiting the county.
One of the Chester cases was connected to the Lancaster outbreak, and the other was linked to an outbreak at Ave Maria University, a small Catholic college in Florida, said Jeanne Franklin, the county’s public health director.
Likewise, four cases in Montgomery County — one in a person visiting the county and three in county residents — were connected to the Ave Maria outbreak.
A person infected with measles connected to that outbreak traveled to Montgomery County; later, two members of their household and a person who had visited an urgent care clinic at the same time as the original patient were diagnosed with measles.
The person infected at the urgent care developed symptoms about 20 days after exposure. Measles has a long incubation period of up to 21 days.
That person had visited a Wawa in Limerick and a car dealership in Royersford multiple times while contagious, and late last month county officials issued warnings about possible exposures to residents who may have been in those locations.
None of the Pennsylvania patients diagnosed with measles had been vaccinated.
Measles cases have risen in the last several years in the United States. In South Carolina, a major outbreak has caused at least 935 cases since last fall. At least 83 people have been sickened in Collier County, Fla., where Ave Maria University is located. Florida has seen 114 total cases so far this year, the Naples Daily News reported.
Closer to home, in late February, Delaware health officials reported a potential measles exposure at the Nemours Children’s Hospital emergency room.
Pennsylvania health officials, citing state privacy laws, declined to specify how the outbreak in Lancaster County began.
“The department investigates each reported case of measles to understand the potential source of their infection. Some of the cases in Pennsylvania have been connected to cases in other states,” the department said in an email.
The state conducts contact tracing to identify people who were exposed to the highly contagious disease; the virus can linger in the air for up to two hours. Health officials determine whether those exposed are immune to the virus, either through vaccination or a prior infection.
People without immunity can get vaccinated for measles within 72 hours or receive immunoglobulin within six days to avoid contracting the disease.
In a health alert issued last month, state officials urged physicians to “maintain a high index of suspicion” for measles if patients show up with a rash and fever. If doctors suspect a measles case, they should not wait for lab confirmation and instead immediately notify the health department.
The department stressed that the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine is the best way to protect against measles; two doses of the vaccine are 97% effective at preventing the disease.
About 94% of Pennsylvania residents have received the MMR vaccine. That is “likely to help limit the number of measles cases in Pennsylvania, compared to other states with lower vaccination rates,” the health department’s statement said.