Two people in Pennsylvania have died during a major measles outbreak, including a newborn, prompting renewed scrutiny of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine statements. The deaths are significant because measles is preventable through vaccination, and public-health experts warn that disputing its role may undermine efforts to raise immunisation rates during a national surge.

Pennsylvania has recorded nearly 400 confirmed cases, while the US total has approached 2,800 in 2026—the highest since 1991; both people who died were reported to be unvaccinated and from Lancaster County. A county coroner said the newborn, who tested positive for measles, died after a ruptured spleen but did not consider measles the direct cause; paediatric infectious-disease specialist Paul Offit said measles can enlarge and rupture the spleen and concluded the deaths would not have occurred without the infection. Kennedy used social media to attack the MMR vaccine and suggest the reported deaths may have been fabricated, despite state officials’ accounts.