Pennsylvania’s PA-HAN 842 advisory, dated October 19, 2026, defines congenital measles as clinical and/or laboratory evidence of infection in the first 10 days of life when measles exposure occurred in utero. It distinguishes that infection from measles acquired through respiratory exposure after birth, which the advisory classifies as neonatal measles.
The advisory addresses measles during pregnancy and newborn care amid a Pennsylvania outbreak. As of October 19, Ars Technica reported 1,286 measles cases across 42 counties and 247 hospitalizations. In an October 20 update, the outlet reported that a Pennsylvania Department of Health spokesperson said officials had confirmed 66 cases in pregnant women.
How Pennsylvania defines congenital measles
The advisory’s definition requires evidence of infection in a newborn’s first 10 days of life alongside exposure to measles in the womb. It also says newborns delivered from the start of maternal symptoms through 14 days after the mother’s rash began may be at risk of symptomatic, transmissible infection.
The distinction depends on when and how infection occurred. Measles passed to a fetus in utero falls under the advisory’s congenital definition; respiratory exposure after birth is neonatal measles.
What the reported infant counts represent
Pennsylvania did not maintain a specific congenital-measles tally, Ars Technica reported. The 157 reported measles cases in children under four are an age-based count, not a count of congenital infections.
NBC News reported on September 24, 2026, that doctors estimated at least six babies had been born with measles in Central Pennsylvania. That estimate is separate from the state’s case figures. The broadcast also reported that hospitals in the hardest-hit areas were running short of airborne infection isolation rooms.
What the advisory recommends for pregnancy and newborn care
For a nonimmune pregnant person exposed to measles, the Pennsylvania Department of Health recommends intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) within six days of the initial exposure. Its advisory says the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine should not be administered during pregnancy. The Pennsylvania Department of Health advisory also describes isolation and evaluation for newborns with possible congenital infection.
That evaluation includes testing with a nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal swab and urine PCR, as well as a measles IgM test. A negative test at birth in an asymptomatic newborn does not fully rule out congenital measles; the advisory describes monitoring and possible repeat testing. It recommends long-term clinical follow-up for infants with known congenital infection or in-utero exposure because neurological and immune complications may occur.
