Six-Week-Old Infant Died From Measles, Lancaster Coroner Says
New York Times · LC · trust 78/100
The ruling casts doubt on statements from the federal health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who speculated that measles deaths reported by the state may have been “fabricated.”
Listen · 2:55 min Share full article Credit... Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, via Associated Press By Teddy Rosenbluth
The child, who died last month, had a rare genetic disorder called Amish microcephaly, which can make a child vulnerable to respiratory infections, Dr. Stephen Diamantoni, the county coroner, said on Friday.
Last week, state officials announced two measles deaths in Lancaster County, amid an expanding outbreak that has sickened 540 people and hospitalized more than 90 .
Controversy broke out almost immediately after state officials made that announcement. Dr. Diamantoni said that he had only been referred one potential case, a newborn who tested positive for the virus and died shortly after childbirth. On social media, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed the discrepancy meant the cases may have been “fabricated” by a staffer of the state’s Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro.
Dr. Erica Schwartz, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, instructed agency staff not to include the two deaths in the agency’s national measles count, breaking with the C.D.C.’s normal procedure of accepting the data reported by states.
On Friday, the C.D.C. furthered escalated the fight, saying on its website that it does not have any records to indicate “measles is the underlying cause” of the deaths.
Dr. Diamantoni said in an interview that after the announcement by state officials, his office began an investigation to find out more information about the second case. He discovered the child with Amish microcephaly and said he felt confident that measles contributed to the death, based on a review of the child’s medical records. Lancaster Online, a local outlet in the county, was the first to report details of this death.
Dr. Diamantoni said the clinic that treated the child did not refer the case to the coroner because the death was not unexpected: children with this genetic condition typically die within months, often because of a viral illness.
State health officials have not confirmed whether the six week old was one of the two deaths that they announced last week.
Dr. Diamantoni has maintained that measles did not contribute to the death of the first child, the newborn, who tested positive for measles and whose immediate cause of death was a lacerated spleen. State health officials have described the case as a “measles-associated death,” since the spleen can become enlarged in response to a measles infection, making it more vulnerable to injury and rupture.
Teddy Rosenbluth is a Times reporter covering health news, with a special focus on medical misinformation.
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