So is the Center for Disease Control (CDC) easily pressured to give an answer Health and Human Services wants or are they really professional and this is legit? Answer depends on which party you belong to….?
CDC omits Pennsylvania measles deaths from weekly update pending review
State officials have said there were two measles-associated deaths in Lancaster County last week. The county coroner confirmed one of those deaths was not due directly to measles, saying a newborn infant died from a ruptured spleen shortly after birth. The Pennsylvania Department of Health said there was a second reported measles-associated death, but has offered almost no detail on it so far, making it unclear whether the death was caused by measles or not.
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“At this time, available information does not establish whether measles caused or contributed to the deaths or whether the individuals died from other causes while infected with measles,” a page on the CDC’s website says. “CDC will update the national count as additional information becomes available.”
The deaths in Lancaster attracted national attention due to public disagreements between Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over the framing of the deaths.
Shapiro, who is viewed as a possible 2028 presidential contender, emphasized that neither of the two fatalities was vaccinated for measles, and called on residents to get vaccinated following the deaths.
“Today, we see the consequences of a lack of immunizations in the first measles-associated deaths that our commonwealth has seen in 35 years,” Shapiro said Tuesday alongside Dr. Debra Bogen at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health Hospital. “I want to be clear: This illness and death from measles is completely preventable.”
Kennedy suggested Shapiro was weaponizing the fatalities to pressure residents into getting vaccinated without evidence that the two individuals died directly because of measles. The HHS secretary accused Shapiro’s office of shattering tradition and violating “standard public health policy by refusing to share information with the County Health Department or CDC.”