Measles Outbreak in West Texas Claims Second Child’s Life; Cases Approach 500
A second child of school age in West Texas has succumbed to complications from measles, a hospital representative confirmed on Sunday, amid a growing outbreak.
Aaron Davis, speaking for UMC Health System in Lubbock, Texas, stated that the child was “receiving treatment for complications of measles while hospitalized” and had not been vaccinated. The hospital refrained from specifying the date of the child’s death.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the Texas State Department of State Health Services, had not included the death in their measles reports issued on Friday. Representatives from the state health department and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to requests for comments on Sunday.
An unvaccinated school-aged child in Lubbock died from measles in February, marking the first measles death in the U.S. in a decade. In early March, an unvaccinated adult in New Mexico who did not seek medical attention became the second measles-related fatality.
The West Texas outbreak, now in its third month, is suspected of having spread to New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Kansas, infecting nearly 570 individuals. The World Health Organization has also reported cases in Mexico linked to the Texas outbreak.
The number of cases in Texas increased by 81 between March 28 and April 4, resulting in 16 additional hospitalizations. A team from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is currently in Texas assisting with the outbreak response.
Nationwide, the U.S. has already seen more than double the number of measles cases compared to the entire year of 2024.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a long-standing opponent of vaccines, has expressed a lukewarm endorsement of measles vaccination, advocating for it while also raising doubts about the vaccine’s safety. The measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine has a 60-year safety record and boasts a 97% effectiveness rate against measles after two doses.
Experts and local health officials anticipate the outbreak will persist for several more months, possibly up to a year. In West Texas, the overwhelming majority of cases involve unvaccinated individuals, particularly children under the age of 17.
The spread of this vaccine-preventable disease has led to concerns that the U.S. might lose its status of having eliminated measles.
Measles, a respiratory virus, can remain infectious in the air for up to two hours. Exposure to the virus will result in infection for approximately 90% of susceptible individuals. The first vaccination is advised for children between 12 and 15 months of age, while the second is recommended between 4 and 6 years of age.
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