What qualifies as a measles-associated death? Medical experts explain.

There are now six measles-associated deaths in Pennsylvania, but how is a death determined to be associated with measles?

Anytime a story is posted to social media about a measles-associated death, the comments become filled with conspiracies. KDKA-TV spoke with medical professionals to clarify what the term means and how these deaths are classified.  

Many commenters on social media question the term "measles-associated," with some promoting conspiracy theories. Doctors say misinformation about measles can contribute to further illness and deaths.

"It leads to more people getting sick and dying from measles. We are at a point where this is on red alert," direct primary care physician Dr. Natalie Gentile said.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, this is its definition for measles-associated deaths.

"A confirmed measles-associated death is a death that occurs within 30 days of symptom onset in an individual with clinical evidence of a measles infection and a positive laboratory test and that is not due to unrelated causes (e.g., motor vehicle accident). Additional information, such as whether an individual was exposed to measles prior to their death or supporting medical records, are also considered. A death would not be determined to be measles-associated if there was no laboratory evidence of measles infection or if the death was determined to be due to other unrelated causes (e.g., motor vehicle accident). DOH would not consider a death to be measles-associated if these criteria are not met. Additionally, if an individual had a previous measles diagnosis and fully recovered before their death, or the death occurred more than 30 days after rash onset, the death would not be counted as measles-associated."

According to doctors, while measles itself may not kill someone, it opens the door for further complications that can.

"Much like if somebody, unfortunately, is in a car crash and has bleeding, they die from it. It's not the car crash per se, but the car crash opened the door for other bad things to happen," Dr. Gentile said.

Some of those complications include brain swelling, pneumonia, severe dehydration and immune amnesia.

"Meaning that your body forgets that you had that infection and can also increase your risk for other infections," Dr. Gentile explained.

Once again, doctors continue to urge people to get the MMR vaccine. This latest reported death was in someone who was not vaccinated. 

According to state data, fewer than 1% of the more than 1,100 measles cases in the commonwealth are people who are fully vaccinated.