Adults comprise two thirds of cases in Pennsylvania measles outbreak

Adults account for about two-thirds of the 1,300 measles cases reported by the state of Pennsylvania, the Scranton Times-Tribune reported. Epidemiologists noted that the outbreak is defying historical trends and expectations for the virus, which is typically considered a childhood illness. [1]

Patients arriving at Penn State Lancaster Medical Center are presenting with severe symptoms beyond the standard cough, fever, and rash, according to the Scranton Times-Tribune. Medical staff report treating patients with meningitis, sepsis, pneumonia, bacterial blood infections, kidney failure, and hepatitis. Fahmida McGann, an infectious disease physician at the hospital, said that seeing these conditions in otherwise young, healthy patients is very unusual. [1]

Measles spreads primarily through airborne respiratory droplets from coughing or sneezing, with contagious periods lasting from four days before rash onset to four days after. The virus is highly contagious with a basic reproduction number between 12 and 18. Protection is provided by the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine, which is 97 percent effective against measles after two doses. [2][3]

As FTMQ Health reported earlier, the broader United States has recorded more than 4,000 measles cases and six deaths during an ongoing national outbreak. The national surge comes as researchers track falling immunization rates among American kindergarten children. [4]