Federal health authorities reported an additional ۱۷۸ cases of measles in the US this week, as the vaccine-preventable illness continues to sicken people across at least ۴۳ outbreaks.
The new data reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) comes as experts criticize the agency for lack of transparency, and as health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr takes steps to further upend US vaccine infrastructure.
The CDC reported ۴,۵۸۸ cases of measles across the country in ۲۰۲۶ as of Friday – more than double the tally for ۲۰۲۵. Pennsylvania alone reported ۱,۳۳۸ cases on the same day. The CDC also reported large outbreaks in South Carolina and Utah, both of which are reporting more than ۵۰۰ cases.
In spite of rising measles numbers, official tallies represent an undercount of the disease. Measles is widely regarded as one of the most contagious diseases known to medicine. Its most common symptoms – rash, runny nose, fever and cough – may not immediately send the infected to a doctor.
Measles sends one in five unvaccinated people who become infected to the hospital, and one to three people in ۱,۰۰۰ die of disease-related complications. The measles vaccine is ۹۷% effective at preventing the disease. Vaccine side effects include injection-site soreness and low-grade fever. The measles vaccine has been a focal point of anti-vaccine activism for decades.
In Pennsylvania, which has had the worst outbreak in the nation for months, state authorities have reported five measles-associated deaths and are investigating a sixth. The CDC has reported three measles deaths nationally, but has refused to say where the third death took place, obscuring whether it is counting a death in Pennsylvania or elsewhere.
Kennedy reportedly asked senior CDC officials in September to remove a measles death from the official tally after he questioned whether the disease contributed to the death, according to Reuters.
In addition to criticism of how the CDC has tallied measles deaths, Health and Human Services (HHS) this week announced changes to vaccine injury reporting systems. A proposal will allow doctors to bill for reporting suspected vaccine injuries, among other changes.
The “vaccine adverse event reporting system”, or VAERS, has been a long-time fixation of the anti-vaccine movement. The system has proved useful for researchers tracking rare vaccine safety issues. However, it has also become a source of misinformation for anti-vaccine activists, who point to VAERS to make claims, however unfounded, about safety.
All vaccines have risks – a fact acknowledged by vaccinologists. Before Kennedy’s appointment to the health department, an expert panel considered each vaccine change individually to decide whether benefits outweigh risks. Kennedy fired all ۱۷ sitting members of that board. He replaced them with members with whom he ideologically aligned. A court blocked the members’ appointment in March.
In his time as secretary, Kennedy also misleadingly claimed children get more than ۹۰ vaccine doses; linked vaccines to autism in spite of extensive evidence to the contrary; directed the CDC to remove claims that vaccines do not cause autism from its website; claimed the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine contains “aborted fetal debris”; and stated that vitamin A and cod liver oil may help children with measles, which leading physicians described as misleading.
