Measles cases reported also in Maryland

The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed two measles-associated deaths in Lancaster County; both individuals were unvaccinated. These are the first deaths related to measles in the state in 35 years and the first measles deaths reported in the United States this year.    

The Maryland Department of Health has declared a measles outbreak in three counties. 

For all of 2025, there were a total of 2,289 confirmed measles cases in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  

As of today, the number of cases in the U.S. was 2,813, according to the Johns Hopkins U.S. Measles Tracker. 

Before 2025, the last time measles cases were above 2,000 was in 1992, when they reached 2,126. In 1991, 9,643 measles cases were reported.  

“The measles vaccine is effective and extremely safe, and it can help prevent these tragic outcomes,” said William Moss of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health  

The CDC reports that complications from measles include:  

• Hospitalization. About 1 in 5 unvaccinated people in the U.S. who get measles is hospitalized. 

• Pneumonia. As many as 1 out of every 20 children with measles gets pneumonia, the most common cause of death from measles in young children. 

• Encephalitis. About 1 child out of every 1,000 who gets measles will develop encephalitis (swelling of the brain). This can lead to convulsions and leave the child deaf or with intellectual disability. 

• Death. Nearly 1 to 3 of every 1,000 children who become infected with measles will die from respiratory and neurologic complications. 

• Complications during pregnancy. If you are pregnant and have not had the MMR vaccine, measles may cause you to give birth prematurely or have a low-birth-weight baby. 

William Moss, MD, MPH, is a professor in the departments of Epidemiology; International Health; and Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.  

By Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health for Newswise. The Gayly online. 8/29/26 @ 6:30 p.m. CST.