Upstate New York child dies in state's first measles death in 30 years
Published in Health & Fitness
A child died of measles in upstate New York, marking the state’s first measles-related death in 30 years, Governor Hochul announced Monday.
“I’m heartbroken to learn that a child in Lewis County has died from measles,” Hochul said in a statement. “My heart goes out to their family and everyone who knew and loved them.”
Hochul blamed the Trump administration for policies that undermine the public’s faith in the safety and efficacy of vaccines.
“This is New York’s first measles-related death in 30 years, a devastating reminder of what’s at stake when Washington deliberately erodes decades of progress in protecting Americans from preventable diseases,” Hochul said.
Earlier this month, Hochul declared a measles disaster amid a sharp rise of reported cases in rural areas of the state and the largest outbreak in more than three decades in neighboring Pennsylvania.
The executive order extends the pool of people who can administer measles vaccines to include paramedics, midwives and others, and allows nurses to join doctors in ordering testing. The state has more than 100 cases this year.
This year, the U.S. is experiencing its worst measles outbreak since 1991, with nearly 3,900 reported cases, according to the CDC. The number of cases this year in Pennsylvania has surpassed 1,000, state health officials said Monday.
Health officials say Pennsylvania’s current outbreak started in April, west of Philadelphia. There have been 1,004 cases, including 198 hospitalizations and five deaths, state officials said.
The nation has seen eight reported measles-associated deaths in the past two years — more than the combined total of reported deaths over the previous three decades.
Health experts attribute such outbreaks to low vaccination rates.
It’s been decades since a U.S. state has seen an outbreak surpass 1,000 cases, stretching back to a multiyear outbreak in New York City in the early 1990s that infected more than 4,500 people.
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