New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a disaster emergency this week because of the measles outbreak in the state and in neighboring Pennsylvania.
New York has over 100 cases. In Pennsylvania, there are over 1,000 cases officially reported and five deaths as of Thursday.
WSKG’s Binghamton area reporter Celia Clarke spoke with two reporters: Natalie Abruzzo, WSKG’s Elmira/Corning reporter has been covering cases in Steuben County where the count is up to 17 as of Thursday, and Lydia McFarlane, the multimedia healthcare reporter of public media station WVIA in Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania.
The conversation was recorded before the New York State emergency was declared. The recording has been lightly edited for broadcast time constraints. I started by asking how they get reliable data. Lydia spoke first.
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Lydia McFarlane: So, these cases are focused mostly in the south and central parts of the state, but they're certainly spreading throughout the rest of the state, including into our coverage area here in northeast and north central region of the state. And I've been reporting mostly based on the Pennsylvania dashboard because it hasn't creeped as much into WVIA's coverage area, but that dashboard is updated every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 2:00 PM.
CC: Natalie?
Natalie Abruzzo: We are getting information from public health departments. However, what Steuben County has done is decided not to produce any more press releases. They are only producing a dashboard on the Steuben County Public Health website that they update every day at 3:30 PM, and they are [also] leading people to check out the statewide dashboard.
CC: What have you been able to find out about the patients? Do they have anything in common that actually relates to their contracting the measles?
NA: There is very little information being released by the local health departments. In Steuben and Chemung counties, officials stated that cases are in unvaccinated residents, but no other demographic details such as geographic location, age, gender, or hospitalizations will be released due to what officials say are patient privacy protections.
CC: And Lydia, how does that compare to who's getting sick in Pennsylvania?
LM: So, similar to what Natalie's describing in New York, the majority of people getting sick here in Pennsylvania are also unvaccinated. So far, the state's Department of Health has reported that less than 1 percent of people who are fully vaccinated with the MMR vaccine have gotten measles during this outbreak, and a little more than 30 percent of those infected are around 18 or younger, but that's the bulk of the information the state's provided about who's getting sick.
What the state's trying to get across is that the majority of people getting sick are unvaccinated.
CC: Compared to what we experienced during peak COVID, what's your experience getting relevant information from health departments? And actually, what do you consider relevant information?
LM: So the state's department of health here in Pennsylvania is protecting the identities of people getting sick and those who are dying what are considered measles associated deaths. I would say though the most relevant information in this situation is if the people getting sick are vaccinated or not, not necessarily their identity or if they're part of a certain group.
CC: And Natalie, how are things in Steuben County?
NA: Well, I would agree with Lydia about what is most relevant, vaccinated versus unvaccinated. And given the HIPAA laws, there's not much information that can be divulged for public purposes. Unless there's a possible exposure in what would be considered a high traffic area such as an airport, a shopping center, or even a performance venue, patient privacy is paramount.
And even then, the details are limited in scope. Public health officials are mindful to not divulge anything identifiable, especially in low population rural areas such as in the Southern Tier here. So no age or gender and certainly no geographical locations.
CC: So what more are you trying to find out or to understand?
NA: Well, Celia, I'm interested in systemic patterns for vaccine hesitancy in school-aged children in the Southern Tier.
New York state public health law is very clear about vaccination requirements. If a child will be attending daycare, pre-K or K through 12th grade, they have to have all required doses of vaccine on the recommendation schedule in order to attend or remain in school. And that includes the MMR vaccine.
CC: And Lydia?
LM: Yeah, for now, it's only minimally in WVIA's coverage area here in the northeast and north central part of the state. So my reporting has been limited mostly to the [state] Department of Health's measles dashboard and if the governor or the health secretary do a briefing.
However, I would love to do a deep dive on the state's vaccination rates by county and also by school district to see how they're correlating with infections. And I'd also love to delve more into the reason why vaccination rates are dropping and vaccine hesitancy rising, especially with one as vetted as the MMR vaccine.
CC: Thank you both for taking the time to talk with me.
