(The Center Square) — A 6-week-old baby girl died from measles last month in Lancaster County, though its unclear if this is the second death identified by the Department of Health during an Aug. 25 press conference that’s raised more questions than it answered.
First reported by LNP, Lancaster County Coroner Stephen Diamantoni said the infant, born with a rare genetic condition called Amish lethal microcephaly, was in palliative care with an anticipated life expectancy of less than six months. He says he doesn’t know if the child was born with measles or contracted it later.
The Center Square has not independently confirmed the report.
The first identified fatality was a newborn baby, also from the county, who tested positive for measles but died from a ruptured spleen and massive blood loss. Diamantoni said the forensic pathologist did not see any indication that the virus affected the organ.
The department said during its Aug. 25 press conference that the deaths are the first related to measles in 35 years. An ongoing outbreak has spread to at least 36 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, sickening 577 residents and hospitalizing 98.
Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, while announcing the deaths, blasted U.S. Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. for rhetoric and directives that he says have lowered Americans’ trust in vaccinations — a sentiment again reiterated at a Thursday press conference in Philadelphia.
The MMR vaccine – which stands for Measles, Mumps, and Rubella – isn’t administered until infants are at least one year old. An early dose, between 6 and 11 months, is only recommended when active cases exist. A second dose is given before starting elementary school.
“I think it's incumbent on the people who had the press conference to provide accurate information,” Lancaster County Commissioner Josh Parsons recently told The Center Square. “And that's really the lesson that we learned out of COVID, which is a lot of people are very distrustful of government, very distrustful of medical officials now and health officials, because of what happened during COVID, so you have to be very careful and provide accurate information.”
An unconfirmed report from The Atlantic identified the family who lost the infant as members of the Amish community. The mother, who requested not to be identified, said she was hospitalized for a severe case of measles just days before she went in labor.
Vaccination rates among Amish and Mennonite communities – of which the country’s largest concentration lives in Lancaster County – have been historically low, hovering around 25%, according to federal data.
“And I think the issue that some have is that they don't like that they choose not to be vaccinated, and you know that's fine,” Parsons said. “They cannot like it, but my position is, as American citizens, they have that right to decide that, and we can provide the information that we do. But ultimately, people have the right to decide that.”
