US Health authorities confirmed the first fatality from measles in 12 years, after a woman from rural northwestern Washington died from pneumonia caused by the contagious disease. "The cause of death was pneumonia due to measles," said a statement from the Department of Health in Clallam County, Washington. "The woman had several other health conditions and was on medications that contributed to a suppressed immune system," it added.
Her name and age were not made public.
"The woman was most likely exposed to measles at a local medical facility during a recent outbreak in Clallam County," said the statement. "She was there at the same time as a person who later developed a rash and was contagious for measles."
Officials said she did not show common measles symptoms so the infection was not discovered until after her death, which occurred in the spring.
A spokesman for the health department told AFP that the woman’s death was not related to the outbreak this year linked to a Disney theme park in California.
The type of measles the woman died of "matched the outbreak in the local county here, but that outbreak strain was not a match for the Disney outbreak," he said.
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The last US death from measles was in 2003.
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"People with compromised immune systems often cannot be vaccinated against measles."
Source-AFP