Measles cases in Pennsylvania reached 1,426 in 2026 as of October 30, according to a November 2 update on respiratory illness in the Northeast. The total included 88 cases in the past seven days. The update also reported 268 people hospitalised and five measles-associated deaths confirmed by the state. A sixth death reported by the Franklin County coroner remains unconfirmed by the state, the update said.
The state’s secretary of health has called the direction of the outbreak “promising,” according to the update. The update did not present a new state statement in full, and it gave the latest numbers as the main change since its previous report. The 88 cases in seven days show the outbreak was still adding cases at the end of October, even as the state health secretary used that word for the direction of travel.
Measles cases in Pennsylvania by the numbers
The three headline figures describe different parts of the outbreak. The total of 1,426 measles cases is the count for the year to October 30. The 88 measles cases in the past seven days are the most recent week inside that total. The 268 hospitalisations are the number of people who needed hospital care during the outbreak, and the five confirmed deaths are the deaths the state counts as measles-associated.
The sixth death needs separate handling in any report of measles cases totals. It was reported by the Franklin County coroner, but it remains unconfirmed by the state, according to the update. Counting it as a sixth confirmed measles death would change the state’s own total, so the update keeps the two figures apart: five confirmed by the state, and a sixth reported by a coroner and awaiting state confirmation.
That care over counting matters because outbreak totals are used to judge whether spread is slowing, holding steady, or rising again. A weekly rise of 88 measles cases is a large addition in a single week, and it sits against a year total of measles cases that had already passed 1,400 by October 30. The update gave no separate breakdown for measles cases in the passage quoted for age, county, or vaccination status, so this article does not add such a breakdown.
Measles cases and flu rising in the Northeast
The same November 2 update reported influenza activity drifting up in the Northeast, though it remains lower than in the South and West. Outpatient influenza-like illness rose from 2.3 percent to 2.5 percent, and flu test positivity ticked up from 3.4 percent to 4.2 percent. The hospital admission rate for influenza increased from 1.3 to 1.5 per 100,000 people in the week covered by the update.
Despite the slower start, flu is about four to five weeks ahead of last season in the Northeast, the update said. Hospital admissions for influenza are at a level the region did not reach until late November last year. New Jersey is rising fastest among the region’s larger states, with its hospital admission rate rising from 1.0 to 1.7 per 100,000, and the region’s highest outpatient influenza-like illness, at 3.5 percent.
COVID-19 indicators in the Northeast were pointing in different directions, the update said. Wastewater levels moved up from low to moderate, while emergency department visits have fallen for four straight weeks, to 0.3 percent. Hospital admissions were flat at 1.4 per 100,000. The CDC estimates that COVID-19 activity is growing or likely growing in six of the eight Northeastern states with estimates, according to the update.
Pennsylvania flu figures alongside measles
In Pennsylvania itself, flu was rising, though the update said the figures are still hard to read. Emergency department visits for flu increased from 0.3 percent to 0.5 percent, flu test positivity rose from 2.9 percent to 4.2 percent, and outpatient influenza-like illness was 1.6 percent. Hospital admissions rose from 2.1 to 2.5 per 100,000, the highest rate in the Northeast, the update said.
Pennsylvania reports high flu admissions year-round, so caution is still needed in reading those figures. The state reported its first two flu outbreaks of the season in the week ending October 24, plus about five COVID-19 outbreaks. COVID-19 hospital admissions in Pennsylvania rose from 1.3 to 1.7 per 100,000, also the highest in the Northeast, while wastewater concentration rose from very low to low and emergency department visits were flat at 0.2 percent.
RSV activity remains very low in the Northeast, the update said. Wastewater levels are very low, emergency visits are basically zero, and admissions are about 0.3 per 100,000. The CDC estimates RSV activity is growing in all five Northeastern states with estimates, according to the update. The measles cases figures remain the sharpest single state total in the update: 1,426 cases, 268 hospitalisations, and five confirmed deaths, with a sixth death still unconfirmed by the state.