A second unvaccinated school-aged baby in West Texas died from a measles-related sickness, a hospital spokesman confirmed Sunday, because the outbreak continues to swell.
Aaron Davis, a spokesperson for UMC Well being System in Lubbock, Texas, stated the kid was “receiving treatment for complications of measles while hospitalized” and didn’t have underlying well being circumstances. The hospital declined to say which day the kid died.
Neither the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention nor the Texas State Division of State Well being Providers included the demise of their measles reviews issued Friday.
An unvaccinated school-age baby died in February in Lubbock — the primary measles demise within the U.S. in a decade. In early March, an grownup in New Mexico who was unvaccinated and didn’t search medical care turned the second measles-related demise.
Nationwide, the U.S. has greater than double the variety of measles circumstances it noticed in all of 2024.
Greater than two months in, the West Texas outbreak is believed to have unfold to New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas, sickening practically 570 individuals. The World Well being Group additionally reported circumstances associated to Texas in Mexico. The variety of circumstances in Texas shot up by 81 between March 28 and April 4, and 16 extra individuals have been hospitalized. A crew from the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention is on the bottom in Texas helping with outbreak response.
Well being Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, has delivered a tepid message on the significance of vaccination towards measles, saying it needs to be inspired whereas additionally sowing doubt within the vaccine’s security. The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine has been used safely for greater than 60 years and is 97 % efficient towards measles after two doses.
