Federal health officials reported 178 additional cases of measles in the United States this week, as the vaccine-preventable disease continues to affect people through at least 43 outbreaks.
The new data reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) comes as experts criticize the agency for a lack of transparency and as Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr takes steps to further shake up America’s vaccine infrastructure.
As of Friday, the CDC reported 4,588 cases of measles across the country in 2026, more than double the 2025 count. Pennsylvania alone reported 1,338 cases on the same day. The CDC also reported large outbreaks in South Carolina and Utah, both of which are reporting more than 500 cases.
Despite the increase in the number of measles cases, official figures represent an underestimate of the disease. Measles is widely considered one of the most contagious diseases known to medicine. Its most common symptoms – rash, runny nose, fever and cough – may not send the infected person to a doctor immediately.
Measles sends one in five infected unvaccinated people to the hospital, and one to three in 1,000 people die from complications related to the disease. The measles vaccine is 97% effective in preventing the disease. Side effects of the vaccine include pain at the injection site and mild fever. The measles vaccine has been at the center of anti-vaccine activism for decades.
In Pennsylvania, which is experiencing the nation’s worst outbreak in months, state officials have reported five deaths associated with measles and are investigating a sixth. The CDC reported three measles deaths nationally, but declined to say where the third death occurred, obscuring whether it counted a death in Pennsylvania or elsewhere.
Kennedy reportedly asked senior CDC officials in September to remove a measles death from the official tally after questioning whether the disease contributed to the death, according to Reuters.
In addition to criticism of how the CDC counted measles deaths, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) this week announced changes to vaccine injury reporting systems. One proposal will allow doctors to charge for reporting suspected vaccine-related injuries, among other changes.
The “Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System,” or VAERS, has long been a fixation of the anti-vaccine movement. The system has proven useful for researchers tracking rare vaccine safety issues. However, it has also become a source of misinformation for anti-vaccine activists, who cite VAERS to make claims, however unfounded, about safety.
All vaccines carry risks – a fact recognized by vaccinologists. Before Kennedy’s appointment to the Health Department, a panel of experts reviewed each vaccine change individually to decide whether the benefits outweighed the risks. Kennedy fired all 17 sitting members of that board. He replaced them with members with whom he aligned ideologically. A court blocked the appointment of members in March.
While secretary, Kennedy also misleadingly claimed that children were receiving more than 90 doses of vaccine; linked vaccines to autism despite ample evidence to the contrary; ordered the CDC to remove claims from its website that vaccines do not cause autism; claimed that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine contained “aborted fetal debris”; and said vitamin A and cod liver oil could help children with measles, which leading doctors called misleading.
Gn Health
