On Tuesday the Pennsylvania Department of Health announced the country’s first 2026 deaths from measles:
Two people in Lancaster County have died from measles-associated complications, Pennsylvania health leaders announced Tuesday.
They are the first fatal cases linked to the highly infectious viral disease seen in the commonwealth in 35 years, officials said.
Both people were unvaccinated, according to health experts. State Department of Health officials said they will not release information about their ages or identities to “protect the privacy of the individuals and their families.”
The deaths come at a time when Lancaster County remains a hot spot for an ongoing measles outbreak. Since April, the county has recorded 177 measles infections.
There have been 393 total cases across 29 counties so far this year, according to state data.
And on Thursday we learned that one of the victims was a baby. Just awful news. This is a screenshot of the press release so you have the context for what follows:
MAGA handled it was well as you might think. Here’s the county commissioner:
Here’s Dr. Oz, who is a member of the administration:
Dr Oz: "I don't want anyone in America concerned inappropriately. We don't know exactly what happened in PAG yet. We don't know if the children died from measles or had another condition that was already attacking them and they happened to get measles at the same time. We lived this during covid."
I feel like I need to repeat this: Dr. Oz, is a real doctor and is somehow the head of Medicaid and Medicare and this is the nonsense he is spreading. Measles is known to cause ruptured spleens during delivery:
Paul Offit, a vaccine and pediatric infectious disease expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, clarified that the measles virus can be passed on in the womb or shortly after birth. The virus can cause the spleen to enlarge and rupture at birth. Offit urged that if measles wasn’t the cause of the baby’s ruptured spleen, the coroner should provide an alternative explanation.
The current HHS Secretary, who bathes in fecal matter-contaminated streams, weighed in with a bunch of bullshit.
I was going to screenshot it but, let’s face it, no one needs to read more than that. The High Wire is a well-known anti-vaxx conspiracy site.
And it’s not just Pennsylvania:
Measles infections in Pennsylvania are part of 2,777 confirmed cases nationwide, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Annual cases have already eclipsed the total number seen last year, which included the deaths of two unvaccinated school-aged children in Texas and an unvaccinated adult in New Mexico.
These are the first measles deaths in Pennsylvania in 30 years.
People should not be dying from measles in the United States in 2026. There is one hopeful sign though:
Pennsylvania health providers typically administer about 25,000 doses of the MMR vaccine per month, but they’ve given out about 35,000 shots in the last month, Bogen said.
“We have seen that when measles reaches a community, the interest in getting vaccinated increases. But we know families often have questions before they seek a vaccine,” she said. “We want to have meaningful conversations so that everyone can understand and be confident in the protection available through the vaccines.”
It’s great that people are changing their minds, but the cost is way too high.
I’ll leave you with this: