State officials announced Monday evening that a child died from measles in Lewis County. It’s the first time in 30 years someone has died from the virus in New York state. Officials gave no details such as the age or location of the child or whether the child was vaccinated.
Lewis County’s Health Department online measles dashboard, however, reported 15 cases of measles and that all 15 occurred among people who were not vaccinated. The state Health Department’s measles dashboard also reports 15 cases of measles in the county and says its data is from last Tuesday.
Governor Kathy Hochul, in a statement, said she was heartbroken by the news. As a mother and grandmother, she said, I cannot imagine what this family is going through. My heart goes out to everyone who knew and loved this child.
In a joint statement with Lewis County’s Public Health agency, the state Health Department said it was offering help to the county in reaching out to people to convince them to get the vaccine, which is 93 percent effective after the first dose and 97 percent effective after the second dose. The vaccine is safe, with serious side effects extremely rare. Government and medical research say there is no link between the vaccine and autism. Measles is among the most infectious of viruses. If 10 people are exposed to a measles patient, 9 of them will get measles themselves.
Lewis County’s 15 cases are the fourth highest among upstate counties. Seneca County in the Finger Lakes region has the most, at 30 cases, with Otsego and Steuben counties second and third. Oswego County’s 12 cases put it fifth.
Statewide as of last Tuesday, 170 people have been infected with the measles virus upstate and 8 more in New York City.
