RFK Jr. goes full anti-vaccine bananas over two measles deaths—one was a newborn
RFK Jr. goes full anti-vaccine bananas over two measles deaths—one was a newborn
小罗伯特·肯尼迪就两例麻疹死亡病例（其中一名为新生儿）发表极端的反疫苗言论
In the wake of news on Tuesday that two people in Pennsylvania died from measles, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been posting a slew of anti-vaccine rhetoric and misinformation on social media—marking a resurgence of his old ways as a fervent opponent of lifesaving immunizations. 周二，宾夕法尼亚州有两人死于麻疹的消息传出后，卫生部长小罗伯特·肯尼迪（Robert F. Kennedy Jr.）在社交媒体上发布了一系列反疫苗言论和虚假信息，这标志着他作为救命疫苗的狂热反对者，又重拾了以往的行径。
The deaths are the first measles-linked fatalities in Pennsylvania in 35 years and are the first US measles deaths reported in 2026. They occurred amid an explosive outbreak in the state that has reached nearly 400 confirmed cases, as well as an ongoing nationwide surge for the vaccine-preventable disease. The US has tallied nearly 2,800 cases so far this year, the highest total since 1991. 这是宾夕法尼亚州35年来首次出现与麻疹相关的死亡病例，也是2026年美国报告的首批麻疹死亡病例。这些死亡事件发生在该州麻疹疫情爆发期间，目前该州确诊病例已接近400例，全国范围内这种可通过疫苗预防的疾病也在持续激增。今年迄今为止，美国已累计报告近2800例病例，创下1991年以来的最高纪录。
Pennsylvania health officials initially declined to provide details about the deaths, only reporting that they were in unvaccinated people from Lancaster County. However, news broke Wednesday that one of the deaths occurred in a newborn baby. That heart-wrenching news was swiftly entangled in the anti-vaccine misinformation Kennedy was spewing online. 宾夕法尼亚州卫生官员最初拒绝提供有关死亡病例的详细信息，仅表示死者均为兰开斯特县未接种疫苗的人员。然而，周三有消息传出，其中一名死者是一名新生儿。这一令人心碎的消息迅速被卷入了肯尼迪在网上散布的反疫苗虚假信息中。
On Tuesday, as news of the two deaths was breaking, Kennedy took to his personal X account to rail against the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and posted a link to The HighWire, a hardline anti-vaccine and conspiracy site run by Del Bigtree, a prominent anti-vaccine propagandist and Kennedy ally. Kennedy’s post also assailed Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who has criticized Kennedy’s anti-vaccine rhetoric and activism. Kennedy went on to blame national declines in vaccination rates on the Biden administration. 周二，当两起死亡事件的消息传出时，肯尼迪在个人X账号上抨击麻疹、腮腺炎和风疹（MMR）疫苗，并发布了一个名为“The HighWire”的网站链接。该网站是一个强硬的反疫苗和阴谋论网站，由著名的反疫苗宣传者、肯尼迪的盟友德尔·比格特里（Del Bigtree）运营。肯尼迪的帖子还攻击了宾夕法尼亚州州长乔什·夏皮罗（Josh Shapiro），后者曾批评过肯尼迪的反疫苗言论和激进主义。肯尼迪随后将全国疫苗接种率下降归咎于拜登政府。
On Wednesday, as news broke that one of the deaths in Pennsylvania was in a newborn, Kennedy turned to his official X account as US health secretary to allege that “the deaths may even have been altogether fabricated by one of the Governor’s hopeful staffers.” He cited a tweet from Josh Parsons, a Republican commissioner of Lancaster County, who claimed there had been “zero measles deaths” reported in the county. The claims appear to be another old play from the anti-vaccine handbook. 周三，当宾夕法尼亚州一名新生儿死亡的消息传出后，肯尼迪以美国卫生部长的身份在官方X账号上声称，“这些死亡事件甚至可能是州长手下某位心怀叵测的工作人员完全捏造的。”他引用了兰开斯特县共和党专员乔什·帕森斯（Josh Parsons）的一条推文，后者声称该县报告的“麻疹死亡人数为零”。这些说法似乎是反疫苗手册中的又一老套路。
Death misinformation
关于死亡的虚假信息
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported later on Wednesday that the Lancaster County Coroner publicly stated that a newborn who had tested positive for measles had died shortly after birth of a ruptured spleen. The coroner, Stephen Diamantoni, said that a pathologist “did not feel it was related to measles.” He noted that he did not know when the baby died or whether the baby’s mother was infected with measles, and had not been in touch with state health officials. 《费城问询报》周三晚些时候报道称，兰开斯特县验尸官公开表示，一名麻疹检测呈阳性的新生儿在出生后不久因脾脏破裂死亡。验尸官斯蒂芬·迪亚曼托尼（Stephen Diamantoni）表示，病理学家“认为这与麻疹无关”。他指出，他不知道婴儿何时死亡，也不知道婴儿的母亲是否感染了麻疹，且他并未与州卫生官员取得联系。
Paul Offit, a vaccine and pediatric infectious disease expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, clarified that the measles virus can be passed on in the womb or shortly after birth. The virus can cause the spleen to enlarge and rupture at birth. Offit urged that if measles wasn’t the cause of the baby’s ruptured spleen, the coroner should provide an alternative explanation. Unlike Diamantoni, Offit said he had been in touch with state officials regarding the deaths and, based on the information he had received, he concluded that “these patients would not have died were it not for measles.” 费城儿童医院的疫苗和儿科传染病专家保罗·奥菲特（Paul Offit）澄清说，麻疹病毒可以在子宫内或出生后不久传播。该病毒会导致脾脏肿大并在出生时破裂。奥菲特敦促说，如果麻疹不是导致婴儿脾脏破裂的原因，验尸官应该提供另一种解释。与迪亚曼托尼不同，奥菲特表示他已就这些死亡病例与州官员进行了沟通，并根据他收到的信息得出结论：“如果不是因为麻疹，这些患者本不会死亡。”
This is far from the first time that Kennedy and his allies have attempted to downplay and spread misinformation about deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases. Anti-vaccine advocates have a well-established history of trying to overwhelm fact-based reporting with falsehoods and doubt. One common strategy is to exploit the sometimes-difficult task of assigning a specific cause of death, blaming associated complications for the death rather than the infection itself—such as blaming a mysteriously ruptured spleen instead of the measles infection that likely led to its rupture. 这绝不是肯尼迪及其盟友第一次试图淡化并散布有关疫苗可预防疾病死亡的虚假信息。反疫苗倡导者有着悠久的历史，他们试图用谎言和怀疑来淹没基于事实的报道。一种常见的策略是利用有时难以确定具体死因的情况，将死亡归咎于相关的并发症，而不是感染本身——例如，将死因归咎于神秘的脾脏破裂，而不是很可能导致脾脏破裂的麻疹感染。
In the deadly measles outbreak in Texas last year, Kennedy’s anti-vaccine advisor, Robert Malone, rushed to announce that a school-age child had died from measles only to deny that measles was the cause, blaming the death instead on pre-existing conditions and a misdiagnosis. The treating doctors refuted the claims, saying the child was otherwise healthy and reported the death as being from “measles pulmonary failure.” Kennedy, meanwhile, falsely blamed the measles outbreak and its severe cases on the children’s poor diets and lack of exercise—despite the outbreak largely spreading within a community of Mennonites, who are generally known for having healthy lifestyles. 在去年德克萨斯州致命的麻疹疫情中，肯尼迪的反疫苗顾问罗伯特·马龙（Robert Malone）急忙宣布一名学龄儿童死于麻疹，随后又否认麻疹是死因，转而将死亡归咎于既往疾病和误诊。主治医生反驳了这些说法，称该儿童身体健康，并将死因报告为“麻疹导致的肺功能衰竭”。与此同时，肯尼迪错误地将麻疹疫情及其重症病例归咎于儿童饮食不当和缺乏锻炼——尽管疫情主要是在门诺派教徒社区内传播，而该群体通常以健康的生活方式而闻名。