Editorial: Pennsylvania measles deaths are the cost of poor public health leadership

The Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Board, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Sep 6, 2026

Published in Op Eds

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The two recent measles-related deaths in Lancaster County, including that of a newborn, were the first in Pennsylvania in 35 years. Sadly, as vaccination rates decline across the commonwealth and the country, they will likely not be the last.

The deaths occurred amid a major measles outbreak in Lancaster that has sickened nearly 400 people. Nationwide, the number of cases grew to a 35-year high.

In normal times (a.k.a. before Donald Trump), federal and state government officials would work together to contain the outbreak, protect the public, and use the incident to urge residents to get vaccinated.

But under Trump, all issues are political. Someone must lose so he can win. Rather than lead and unite, the president and his minions divide and misinform.

Gov. Josh Shapiro did what any responsible public official would do. He traveled to Lancaster General Health’s Women and Babies Hospital to express empathy, support the local community, and urge the public to get vaccinated.

“We hope, and we pray, that those deaths will be the last,” Shapiro said. He underscored, “This illness and death from measles is completely preventable.”

Initially, state officials did not provide details about the two people who died in order to protect their privacy.

Lancaster County Coroner Stephen Diamantoni, a Republican elected official who is also a physician, said the newborn tested positive for measles, but died from a ruptured spleen. State health officials clarified that they define a “measles-associated death” as one in which measles was present, even if it is not the immediate cause of death.

That provided an opening for others to stir the misinformation sphere.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the dangerously unqualified head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, rushed right in, claiming on social media that Shapiro’s administration may have “fabricated” the deaths, and wrongly commenting in an interview on C-SPAN that “they cannot find any measles deaths in Lancaster County.”

To be sure, Pennsylvania health officials should have been more forthcoming in sharing information about the patients’ ages, causes of deaths, and reasons for being unvaccinated.

The lack of details “created fertile ground for conspiracy theories to thrive,” said Paul Offit, a physician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who heads the hospital’s Vaccine Education Center.

Offit explained that measles can cause an enlarged spleen to become fragile, which can lead to rupture. He added that he learned from state health officials that the patients who died in Pennsylvania would have lived if they were not infected with measles.

Bottom line: Measles played a role in the deaths.

It is frustrating and sad that so much energy is needed to convince the public that vaccines work. Vaccines are tested, proven, and settled science. The most effective way to stop the spread of measles is to get vaccinated.

Indeed, measles was declared eradicated from the United States in 2000. Thanks to vaccines, other viruses such as mumps, rubella, and chickenpox were either eliminated or reduced by as much as 99%.

But measles has made a comeback in recent years as vaccination rates have declined. Pennsylvania is among the states with the most cases, and public health officials fear more outbreaks.

The drop in vaccination rates is due in large part to the spread of misinformation across social media in recent years. That misinformation has been amplified by Trump, the king of conspiracy theories, witch hunts, and any other form of quackery that gets attention and plays to a crowd’s worst fears.

In a cynical political deal to win over so-called Make America Healthy Again voters, Trump appointed Kennedy, who is not a doctor, to oversee HHS.

Beyond his famous family name, Kennedy is best known for spreading misinformation about vaccines and promoting debunked claims about autism. He was a leading vaccine skeptic — and attention seeker — during the pandemic.

From his powerful perch, Kennedy has upended vaccine policy. As a result of his anti-science agenda, the country is getting sicker.

The sooner America’s leaders return to promoting evidence-based science and public health, the safer and healthier we will be.

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