Whopper of the Week: RFK Jr. Wants Us to Believe a Baby Died “With” Measles Not “Of” Measles

Whopper of the Week: 

RFK JR. WANTS US TO BELIEVE A BABY DIED "WITH" MEASLES NOT "OF" MEASLES
 

SUMMARY

On August 25, Shapiro announced at a news conference that a newborn baby was one of two measles-related deaths in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the first in 35 years for the state. Secretary of Health Kennedy accused Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro on social media of weaponizing “infectious disease fears for political gain.” He also claimed, “the announcement appears to have been premature, and the deaths may even have been altogether fabricated by one of the Governor's hopeful staffers,” adding later "they cannot find any measles deaths in Lancaster County." 
 

WHY IS THIS A WHOPPER?

The Governor’s press conference on August 25, 2026 elevated the seriousness of the outbreak and the state’s interest in alerting the public to end the epidemic. It is newsworthy that two people who contracted measles have died in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, which has particularly low immunization rates for measles, mumps, rubella (MMR), especially in the Amish Community. The last time Pennsylvania recorded any measles related fatality was in 1991, over a generation ago, when nine children died, most of them associated with a church that eschewed medical care. In 2026 Pennsylvania has had over 500 cases of measles. Governor Shapiro’s message is political only if you believe that vaccines are “political.” He encouraged parents to vaccinate, saying, “It’s vital for every parent to know that if you or your kids are unvaccinated, you are at an increased risk for contracting this highly contagious virus. I urge everyone to take this seriously and to discuss any concerns with their trusted health care provider.”

It is disconcerting that the Secretary of Health would accuse a governor and State Department of Health of lying about the deaths of two children. But Kennedy is exploiting the complexity of defining a measles death in service to his larger program of vilifying vaccines, downplaying the seriousness of infectious diseases, and spreading misinformation. 

There is no dispute that two children tested positive for measles prior to their deaths, and Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Debra Bogen wrote that she “sadly can confirm that there were two recent measles-associated deaths in Lancaster County.” Recognizing that not all the facts are available, what we do know is that in the first case, an unvaccinated Amish woman became severely ill with measles late in pregnancy, her child contracted it in utero and died shortly after birth. Details of the second child’s death are unavailable, but apparently no autopsy will be conducted, and medical records are under review. 

Kennedy’s accusation of “fearmongering” was seemingly triggered by the fact that the Lancaster County Coroner had not reported any measles deaths. In addition, the coroner’s office listed the primary cause of the infant’s death as a ruptured spleen, with measles listed as a condition “contributing to death but not resulting in the underlying cause.” Nonetheless, Steven Diamantoni, the county coroner, said that while the infant tested positive for measles, his department’s forensic pathologist does not consider the splenic rupture to have been caused by measles. However, Paul Offit, a pediatric infectious disease physician at the University of Pennsylvania, noted that it is very rare for newborns to die of a ruptured spleen and explained that “because measles virus can cause enlargement of the spleen and thinning of the splenic capsule, it is plausible that the child’s splenic rupture occurred during the birth process, which can be traumatic.”

Investigations into the deaths are ongoing, but the politics have now been supercharged, with confusion about the definition of "measles associated" providing an opening for Kennedy to exploit. One reason for the lack of clarity is that the state epidemiologists and coroners have different roles in public health:

• During a measles outbreak, epidemiologists use real-time data for outbreak surveillance, prioritizing speed and safety to identify “measles-associated deaths.” For example, the Pennsylvania  Department of Health (DOH) clarified that the term “measles-associated” is used “when laboratory or epidemiologic evidence of measles is present, but the disease may not be assessed by the medical certifier or coroner to be the immediate cause of death.” 
• In contrast, coroners produce official death certificates, listing the immediate cause of death as well as underlying and contributing causes. As Amesh Adalja of Johns Hopkins University explained to Factcheck.org, almost no death certificate would list measles as the immediate cause; that would typically be the complication of measles that led to death such as pneumonia, encephalitis or splenic rupture.  

This subtle distinction is the hook Kennedy used to cast doubt on whether the child died “of” measles or “with” measles. Kennedy is now exploiting the situation to run his usual playbook, as he did during the Texas measles outbreak in 2025, downplaying the gravity of measles in general, alleging conspiracy theories, decrying “the weaponization of infectious disease fears for political gain” and throwing in misinformation about vaccine safety and efficacy.  
 

WHY DOES IT MATTER?

The died “of” versus “with” gambit is a classic strategy to minimize the dangers of infectious disease. The Trump administration was united in questioning the circumstances of the two deaths. Dr. Oz said in a Fox interview, "I don't want anyone in America concerned inappropriately. We don't know exactly what happened in Pennsylvania 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." But, in fact, we do know that measles can be fatal, especially in young children.

The HHS Secretary is using this argument to undermine public trust in health agencies. Worse, he is tampering with the Centers for Disease Control protocols for reporting infectious disease cases and deaths by state health departments. The CDC just announced it would only “include confirmed cases [state health departments] have notified to CDC” in its official statistics. Kennedy ordered the new CDC Director, Erica Schwartz, to exclude the two Pennsylvania measles deaths from the CDC tally. Elizabeth Jacobs, an epidemiologist and co-founder of Defend Public Health explains, “If the protocol for reporting infectious disease cases and deaths is that the CDC uses the state health department determination, then RFK Jr. has just changed that protocol without rationale or explanation. When that is done in epidemiology, it corrupts all of the data collection processes.”

Governor Shapiro is right to worry about Kennedy’s intentions, saying  “Secretary Kennedy’s actions to dismantle public health agencies and his language that undermines confidence in vetted medical guidance are contributing to these kinds of outbreaks.” 

Contributions by: Benedicte Callan, Ph.D., Miriam Rabkin, M.D., M.P.H, Bruce Mirken, Aurora Horstkamp, M.D., Kathylynn Saboda, M.S., David Moskowitz, M.F.A.