One of the two deaths related to measles reported in Pennsylvania was an infant, state health officials said Wednesday, a day after announcing that two unvaccinated residents had died.
They mark the first US deaths related to measles reported in 2026 and the first in Pennsylvania in 35 years.
“My deepest sympathies are with the loved ones who are facing this unimaginable loss,” Secretary of Health Dr. Debra Bogen said in a statement Tuesday released by the state’s Department of Health. “As a physician, I want to make sure that people understand that the MMR vaccine is safe and provides the best protection we have against measles.”
The deaths come as US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has led efforts to make sweeping changes to federal vaccine recommendations, including those involving the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. During Kennedy’s time in office, vaccination rates have continued to fall nationwide, leaving more children vulnerable to preventable illness.
In 2021, Kennedy – who was then leading the anti-vaccine organization Children’s Health Defense – visited Lancaster County, where he made light of his own childhood case of measles and stoked fears in vaccines, which he suggested were causing autism and autoimmune diseases.
On Tuesday, Kennedy called Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro to offer federal staff to help with the measles response, but Shapiro said he declined because he thought the state could manage with its own resources. He said he also told Kennedy that the disinformation he spread about vaccines was having repercussions.
“There’s real-life consequences to spreading misinformation. There’s real-life consequences to scaring people and not relying on actual doctors and actual medical professionals to provide unbiased information to parents so that we can make reasonable decisions for our kids,” Shapiro said in a news briefing.
“Sharing conspiracy theories and misinformation does not help the cause of public health, and it leaves people less healthy and less safe, and it leaves parents in a position where it’s harder for us to do our jobs to protect our children,” he added.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on social media that it “is working closely with state and local health departments to strengthen response efforts, rapidly support affected communities across the state, and communicate the steps people can take to slow the spread of measles. The MMR vaccine provides the most effective protection against measles and helps prevent its spread. CDC will continue to follow Pennsylvania’s lead and provide resources to support the state’s response.”
Both of the Pennsylvania deaths were in residents of Lancaster County and tested positive for measles. The state’s health department did not specify their ages.
In its statement Wednesday, the department said one of the two measles-associated deaths was under investigation by the county coroner, which had stated it was reviewing the death of an infant with a positive measles test.
Pennsylvania has confirmed 393 measles cases in 28 counties in 2026, Bogen said in a news conference Tuesday. Roughly half of them have been in Lancaster County, she said.
About 20% of cases in Pennsylvania this year have required hospitalization. Among measles cases confirmed by the health department, none have been in people who have received both recommended doses of the MMR vaccine, she added.
The highly contagious virus has continued its historic resurgence in the US this year, with a second record-breaking year in a row. The country has recorded more cases than 2,700 cases this year, more than any other year since 1991 – surpassing a grim milestone that was just topped last year.
The disease was declared eliminated in the US in 2000, but more cases have been recorded in the past year and a half than there have been in the previous 25 years combined. Experts expect that the US will soon lose its elimination status, the recognition by the World Health Organization that measles is no longer transmitting regularly within a country.
Early symptoms of measles include fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes, Pennsylvania health officials said, and a rash follows a few days later, starting on the head and spreading downward. Symptoms can start seven to 21 days after exposure.
Measles can spread when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes, and the virus remains infectious in the air and on surfaces for up to two hours after the person with infection leaves the area.
Measles can cause serious short- and long-term health problems, including pneumonia and brain swelling. Death related to measles are rare but happen in 1 to 3 patients per 1,000 cases.
“People have forgotten how serious it can be, especially for the very young, the pregnant and the very old,” Bogen said.
Two doses of the MMR vaccine are 97% effective against measles. Pennsylvania health officials are recommending early or catch-up MMR doses for people as young as 6 months who aren’t fully protected.
“These deaths are entirely preventable,” said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center and an infectious disease physician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Last year, the US reported its first measles deaths in decades, including two unvaccinated children in Texas.
This story has been updated with additional information.