The CDC did not respond to a request for comment for this article.<\/p>\n
As of Wednesday, the CDC had reported 3,471 confirmed measles cases in the United States this year. More than 300 of those patients were hospitalized.<\/p>\n
The CDC\u2019s earlier refusal to count Pennsylvania\u2019s deaths sparked a public feud between Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust a few years ago, Secretary Kennedy was in Lancaster downplaying the severity of measles and saying that the cure was \u2018chicken soup and vitamin A,\u2019\u201d Shapiro wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cSecretary Kennedy has stoked confusion amongst parents and others \u2014 and the result has been less protection from measles and more cases.\u201d<\/p>\n Kennedy has maintained that the Trump administration\u2019s response is working.<\/p>\n \tMore articles<\/p>\n \u201cMexico has 11 times the amount of measles cases as we do,\u201d he said during an August news conference. \u201cI\u2019ve sent the CDC in to cooperate with the state health agencies, and we\u2019ve brought it to an end overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier this summer, President Donald Trump signed an order limiting the vaccines recommended for children<\/a> and splitting the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine into separate doses. In August, Trump was asked what evidence he had that the MMR vaccine is \u201clethal.\u201d The president said he had heard it and that \u201csome people\u201d say so. The vaccines are safe when given individually, he said, but \u201cwhen you put them together, they can be explosive.\u201d<\/p>\n Medical experts say there is no need to split the MMR shot, nor any evidence that the combined shot is dangerous or that splitting it offers any benefit. Vaccines remain the most effective way to protect against the measles.<\/p>\n Asked whether they felt supported by the federal government, both doctors said they have relied on their colleagues and on Pennsylvania\u2019s Department of Health.<\/p>\n Both doctors say they are worried the outbreak is stretching hospitals so thin that treating other patients this fall could get harder. Measles patients must be kept in negative-pressure rooms, which prevent airborne viruses from escaping, and those rooms are scarce.<\/p>\n \u201cOur hospitals have limited rooms, limited negative pressure rooms, and when those rooms are being used by these very very sick measles patients, then that impairs our ability to care for other illnesses,\u201d Mascia said.<\/p>\n For Martin, watching the return of a disease the U.S. declared eliminated in 2000 has been hard to absorb.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a real bitter pill,\u201d he said. For families, \u201cit changes everything for them overnight. But for the healthcare personnel, it\u2019s also very difficult to wrap your head around. These are people that should have been living full, normal lives.\u201d<\/p>\n MS NOW senior medical analyst Dr. Vin Gupta contributed to this report. <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Donald](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/260924-president-donald-trump-robert-f-kennedy-jr-rfk-jr-secretary-of-health-and-human-services-hhs-.jpeg\")
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., right, looks on as President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order in the Oval Office on Aug. 10, 2026, calling for more research and flexibility on vaccines.Jim Watson \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
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