Houston: A child not vaccinated in Texas died of measles, confirmed health officials on Wednesday, marking the first fatality related to measles in the United States in almost a decade, since the country dealt with a growing outbreak and immunization rates in decline.
Death occurs in the midst of the decrease in immunization rates throughout the country, with the last cases concentrated in a Mennonite religious community that has historically demonstrated vaccine vaccine.
It comes in a delicate moment for American public health as Kennedy, which has long extended falsehoods about the measles vaccine, papers and rubella (MMR), begins its mandate as Secretary of Health.
“The school -age child who was not vaccinated was hospitalized in Lubbock last week and tested positive for measles,” said the State Health Department in a press release.
A Lubbock City statement confirmed that the child died “in the last 24 hours.”
Since the beginning of the year, more than 130 cases of measles have been reported in western Texas and neighboring New Mexico, the vast majority in non -vaccinated children.
Eighteen years have been hospitalized in Texas, and health officials warn that the outbreak is likely to grow.
Going to the journalists during a meeting of the cabinet of President Donald Trump, Kennedy minimized the situation, stating: “It is not unusual. You have measles outbreaks every year.”
He also declared the number of deaths like two, but neither the health departments of Texas nor New Mexico said they knew of any additional mortality.
“While the outbreaks of multiple sarampos in the United States have not resulted in a death, it was only a matter of time that happened,” the infectious doctor’s doctor Adalja from the Johns Hopkins University told AFP.
“Measles still kill more than 100,000 people every year worldwide. Death should serve as a reminder that there was a reason why the vaccine was developed and that the vaccine is a value for people,” said Adalja.
“These deaths are almost completely preventable.”
Religious exemptions
The epicenter of the outbreak is Gaines County, home from a significant population of Mennonites, a Christian sect with a history of vaccine.
The Texas Law allows vaccine exemptions for reasons of consciousness, including religious beliefs.
The centers for disease control and prevention (CDC) recommend a vaccination rate of 95 percent to maintain the “herd immunity”.
However, coverage among the Kindergarten has decreased from 95.2 percent in the 2019-2020 to 92.7 percent school in 2023-2024, leaving some 280,000 vulnerable children.
The last death related to the measles of the United States was in 2015, when a woman in the state of Washington died from pneumonia caused by the virus. He had been vaccinated but was taking immunosuppressive medications. Before that, the previous registered measles death was in 2003.
Threat in the air
Measles is a highly contagious respiratory virus that extends through drops when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezing. It presents a serious risk for unaccoured people, including babies under 12 who are not normally eligible for vaccination, and those with weakened immune systems.
During the outbreaks, approximately one in five infected people require hospitalization, and one in 20 develops pneumonia.
In rare cases, measles leads to brain swelling and can be fatal. It also increases the risk of pregnancy complications, including premature birth and low birth weight.
The United States reported 285 measles cases in 2023, according to CDC. The largest recent outbreak was in 2019, with 1,274 cases, mainly in Orthodox Jewish communities in New York and New Jersey, the highest national total in decades.
Before introducing the measles vaccine in 1963, it is believed that millions contracted the disease annually and several hundred died. While measles was declared eliminated in the US. In 2000, the outbreaks persist every year.
RFK JR has repeatedly and falsely linked the MMR vaccine with autism, a completely discredited claim by scientific research.
In one of its first actions in charge, the Federal Department of Health postponed a routine meeting of an independent advisory panel that makes vaccine recommendations to the CDC.
