(AP) – A second school-age child in western Texas has died of a measles-related illness, a hospital spokesperson confirmed Sunday that the outbreak continues to swell.
Aaron Davis, a spokesman for UMC Health System in Lubbock, Texas, said the child was “treated for measles complications while in hospital,” and said he was not vaccinated. The hospital refused to say which day the child died.
Neither the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention nor the Texas Department of Health Department’s Health Department have included the deaths in a measles report issued Friday. A spokesperson for the state Department of Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
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An unvaccinated school-age child died of measles in Lubbock in February. In early March, an adult in New Mexico had not been vaccinated and an adult who didn’t seek medical care became the second measles-related death.
More than two months later, the West Texas outbreak is believed to have spread to New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas, with nearly 570 people sick. The World Health Organization also reported incidents related to Texas, Mexico.
The number of cases in Texas rose 81 between March 28th and April 4th, with another 16 people hospitalised. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention team is on the ground supporting Texas outbreak response.
And nationwide, the US has more than twice the measles cases we saw in all 2024.
Longtime anti-vaccine activist Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said it should be encouraged while questioning the safety of vaccines. Measles, mumps and rubella vaccines have been safely used for over 60 years and are 97% effective against measles after two doses.
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Experts and local health officials expect it to happen for several more months, if not a year. In West Texas, the majority of cases are in unvaccinated people and children under the age of 17.
Some people are worried that measles may cost the status of eliminating the disease in the United States, as several states face the outbreak of vaccine-preventable disease.
Measles is a respiratory virus that can survive in the air for up to 2 hours. According to the CDC, nine in 10 susceptible people will ingest the virus when exposed. The first shot is recommended for children aged 12-15 months and for children aged 4-6 years for the second.
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