6th measles-related death reported in PA as local school reopens following confirmed case

All right, there's Westchester here. This is the Fox 29 news live at 4 exclusively on Fox local today and a beautiful day out there in Chester County. In fact, classes did resume today at Oxford Area High School after a confirmed measles case forced the school to shut down last week. They did a deep clean and now classes are back up and running, so that's good news there. However, there was a new confirmed death in the state of PA, not in Chester County in Franklin County, where a 39-year-old woman died over the weekend because of measles. That's, I believe, six deaths in PA, which I believe leads the nation here in this measles outbreak. Let's bring in Jean Franklin. She is the Chester County Health Department director. Jean, sorry we're meeting under these circumstances, but it's good to see you. Thank you. So, Chester County, obviously these cases at Oxford Area High School, the school doing what it needed to do to keep everyone safe. Give us the latest in your county as it pertains to the measles. So in Chester County, we have 85 confirmed cases, and that is as of last Friday. And we continue to push all of our public health strategies forward, including partnering with schools who may be affected by this. Got it. You know, what is it about, I mean, the state of Pennsylvania, Chester County, 85 cases. what is it about our area that is making us susceptible to the measles? So measles loves to travel through people who are not vaccinated or have not had previous measles in the past. So we have large pockets in Pennsylvania of communities that are historically unvaccinated. And that is where it's really impacting the residents in Pennsylvania's outbreak well most of us were vaccinated as kids really young kids in fact i don't i couldn't even tell him 47 years i wouldn't know if i was vaccinated i think i was um so who's and who is a candidate for a booster so we don't technically call it a booster because it is the same formulation as the regular vaccine uh and we would recommend folks talking to their physician or calling the health department if they believe they've been vaccinated but just for some reason cannot find the records um then we would ask them to get tested uh for the additional shot it would be anyone who is unsure and is uh has a negative uh titer test or you can get an additional MMR vaccine with no harm. That's good to know. And thanks for the clarification on a booster. Wrong word there, but yeah. And so what would the symptoms be if somebody may be suffering from measles, maybe an elderly person, an adult? So they typically start like many other illnesses, runny nose, cold, fever. So those are the key indicators in the beginning. And then folks begin to develop a rash. And that rash historically starts on the face, generally around the hairline. And that is a pretty telltale sign that measles is present. And therefore, they should be seeking care from their physician. But notify the physician before they seek care. Interesting. Okay, hairline rash. That's interesting. So What can people do? What's your message to people on just, you know, taking care of themselves and their neighbors when it comes to the measles outbreak? So a couple of things. If you know you've been exposed or you have measles, let your friends and neighbors who have been around you recently know so they can take action themselves and find your vaccine record. We have lots of folks going to their childhood baby books, to their old vaccine cards, have those handy. So if you are impacted, you can quickly present that you have proof of vaccine. Okay, Jean Franklin from the Chester County Health Department, thank you so much and best of luck to everyone in your county and all the surrounding counties as well as we try to stop the spread of measles here in PA. Thank you so much. All the best. You're welcome.