Four measles deaths in Pennsylvania's Amish country as health workers take vaccines door to door

Pennsylvania has recorded four measles-associated deaths in four weeks — the state’s first in 35 years — as health workers fan out through Amish country to vaccinate a largely unprotected population.

The first two deaths, announced on 25 August, were unvaccinated residents of Lancaster County, the centre of Pennsylvania Dutch Country and home to the country’s oldest Amish and Mennonite communities. Two further deaths were confirmed on 15 September. All four victims were unvaccinated, according to the state Department of Health.

A statewide update on 16 September put confirmed cases at 731 across 38 counties, with 141 hospitalisations. Fewer than one per cent of reported cases were in vaccinated people.

Rather than waiting for residents to come to clinics, the department has taken the vaccine to the community: health workers have administered doses inside private homes and held 124 pop-up MMR clinics at churches, fire halls and private homes, delivering more than 4,100 doses. “We are not waiting for Pennsylvanians to come to us. We are making the vaccine accessible to anyone who wants it,” state Health Secretary Dr Debra Bogen said.

Amish communities have no religious objection to vaccination, according to scholar Steven Nolt of Elizabethtown College, though uptake has historically been low.

Sources

• BBC News — story lead
• Pennsylvania Department of Health — case and death confirmations via outlet reporting
• Al Jazeera — CDC dispute, outbreak spread
• DM News — four deaths, 731 cases, 38 counties, 141 hospitalisations