Measles: First U.S. Death From the Disease in Over a Decade.
In Clallam County, Washington, a woman has died of complications from measles. This is the first U.S. death from measles since 2003.
Clallam County had an outbreak of measles earlier this year, when five people were diagnosed with the disease. The woman who died brings this to a total of six.
She likely contracted measles when she visited a health facility; a person who was later identified as having measles was there at the same time. The woman who died was apparently taking a series of medications that lowered her immune system’s ability to fight off disease. Although she didn’t present a rash or other obvious external symptoms, she died of pneumonia caused by the measles infection.
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