Advisory panel to weigh US measles elimination status in November

Kennedy accused Shapiro of ‘political grandstanding’ after first deaths

The November decision comes as state and local officials have reported four measles-associated deaths in Pennsylvania this year, including an 18-year-old in Mifflin County and a 40-year-old Jefferson County woman who died Saturday from respiratory failure due to measles — both unvaccinated. Two infants have also died this year; U.S. children typically do not receive their first MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine until 12 months of age.

In Lancaster County, Coroner Stephen Diamantoni said a six-week-old born with Amish lethal microcephaly, a rare genetic condition, died of measles on August 18. Diamantoni has said another infant who tested positive for measles died soon after birth on August 14, with the primary cause of death listed as a spleen laceration. Measles infections can cause the spleen to enlarge, raising the risk of rupture, and state health officials attributed that death to a measles infection that resulted in a spleen rupture.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health said it had conducted “rigorous investigations” with local coroners’ offices to confirm the latest two deaths were attributable to measles. “These investigations included confirming clinical evidence of a measles infection, a positive laboratory test, and that the death was not due to an unrelated cause,” the department said.

The measles virus — with its signature blotchy red rash — once infected millions of children a year before a vaccine was invented, the BBC reported. The highly contagious virus can be fatal, and some patients experience long-term complications including encephalitis and immune amnesia, the BBC reported. To achieve herd immunity, around 95% of the population must be vaccinated, according to health officials.

The fatalities have sharpened a public dispute between Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In a post on X on Tuesday, Shapiro wrote: “This disease was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000 - yet decades later, we are seeing it surge due to lower vaccination rates.” Shapiro has accused Kennedy of spreading misinformation about vaccines and said he would withhold information about the deaths from the top health official to protect the families of the deceased.

Kennedy has questioned whether the infant deaths were in fact attributable to measles. In a post on X after the first two deaths in the state, Kennedy accused Shapiro of “political grandstanding.” Kennedy has said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would only update its information on deaths once reviews were complete. The health secretary has described the worsening measles outbreak as a global problem. Speaking before a Senate committee last month, he said: “A lot of nations have lost their elimination status. The whole world had their worst measles year.”

The BBC has described Kennedy as a vaccine sceptic who has shared mixed messaging on the MMR vaccine, which the BBC reported has proven safe and effective. Public health experts have criticized Kennedy, arguing his remarks and his remaking of U.S. vaccine policy have hindered efforts to stop the outbreaks.

The United States eliminated measles in 2000 through vaccination, but this year has seen the highest number of U.S. deaths from the virus since the 1990s. Last year, three people — including two children — died in a Texas outbreak that spread predominantly among the Mennonite community. The rising number of cases has come as vaccine hesitancy in the U.S. has increased in recent years, leading to lower immunization rates, according to the BBC. An advisory panel is scheduled to convene in November to decide whether the United States will lose its measles elimination status, a status Canada lost last year.