Pennsylvania teen dies from measles complications, health officials report

A fourth death has been linked to measles in Pennsylvania, the state Health Department said Tuesday. All four deaths have been reported in the last month as Pennsylvania’s measles outbreak continues to grow. They are the first deaths associated with measles in the state in 35 years. In all of last year, the U.S. recorded three measles deaths. The Health Department said in a news release Tuesday that the two people who died most recently were from Jefferson and Mifflin counties. Both were unvaccinated, it said. The Mifflin County coroner said Tuesday that an 18-year-old resident died “due to complications of measles,” specifically a rare and severe neurological condition that causes inflammation in the brain. The Jefferson County resident was a 40-year-old woman with asthma and severe lung disease who died Saturday, the coroner previously reported.