— Pennsylvania's health department and Lancaster County coroner have offered contradictory info
by Paul Offit, MD
August 31, 2026
• 4 min read
On Aug. 25, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 393 measles cases and two associated deaths from an outbreak that centered on Lancaster County. One death was in a newborn infant. Within a couple of days, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the deaths may have been fabricated. This wasn't surprising. Just a year ago, when two little girls in West Texas died from measles, anti-vaccine activists -- who don't want us to believe that their anti-vaccine advocacy is killing children -- also claimed that poor medical care, not measles, had caused the deaths.
