RFK Jr, the health secretary, has suggested the deaths were ‘fabricated’ while the CDC claimed it was reviewing them

Top US health officials and government agencies are currently not including the two recent measles-associated deaths in Pennsylvania in their counts.

“This is highly unusual,” said Debra Houry, former chief medical officer of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She noted that this did not happen with the three deaths reported from measles in Texas and New Mexico last year.

After Lindsey Graham’s death, Democrat Annie Andrews finds herself in a closely watched race as she seeks to flip his Republican seat

Annie Andrews was a dark horse Democrat challenging a five-term Republican in the US Senate when 314 Action, a political action fund devoted to electing scientists and doctors, first backed her.

Now, after the unexpected death of Senator Lindsey Graham, Andrews finds herself in a closely watched race. Donald Trump persuaded South Carolina voters last week to select Graham’s sister, Darline, as the new Republican candidate. They will face off in November in an election still heavily favored to keep the seat in Republican hands in the conservative state.

Anti-vaxxers are spreading conspiracy theories after two recent measles-associated deaths in Pennsylvania

Anti-vaccine activists are trying to track down the families of two people, including at least one newborn, who died after contracting measles in Pennsylvania, as Governor Josh Shapiro tangles with Robert F Kennedy Jr over his “inaccurate and misleading claims”.

Kennedy, the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), suggested late on Wednesday that the deaths in the state may have been “fabricated” after a Republican coroner – an elected political office in Lancaster county – claimed one of the measles-associated deaths was unrelated to the virus, although the given cause would be consistent with measles.

Asking people to weigh in on adoption of different categories in move that will sow confusion and create access challenges, say experts

The Trump administration is asking for public feedback on changes to the ways it recommends vaccines – likely opening the door to greater access challenges and confusion, experts say.

In a notice published by the health and human services (HHS) to the Federal Register on Friday, officials say they are now seeking comments from the public about the current categories for vaccine recommendations, which so far fall into routine, risk-based and shared clinical decision-making.