Health officials report 74 new measles cases in Pennsylvania

Since Monday, Pennsylvania has reported 74 new measles cases, according to the state's health department on Wednesday. In total, 1,078 cases have been recorded in the state this year. At least 207 individuals have been hospitalized and five people have sadly died from the illness. Among the 74 newly reported cases, over 40 involve people who were infected over two weeks ago but have only recently been confirmed, the state's health department noted.

The latest update does not indicate a current spike in new infections. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises that people receive two doses of the MMR vaccine, with the first dose between 12 to 15 months of age and the second dose between 4 to 6 years of age. A single dose of the vaccine is 93% effective in preventing measles infection, while two doses are 97% effective, the CDC states.

For infants aged 6 to 11 months residing in or traveling to high-risk outbreak areas, an early third dose of the MMR vaccine may be administered. Recent data from the CDC shows that vaccination rates have been declining in recent years. During the 2025 to 2026 school year, 92.4% of kindergartners received the MMR vaccine, which is lower than the 95.2% seen in the 2019 to 2020 school year, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pennsylvania has administered more than 8,800 doses of the MMR vaccine by the Department of Health (DOH) staff. Of these doses, around 3,500 were given in August and over 2,500 were administered in September.