Second child dies from measles-related causes in West Texas, where cases near 500 : NPR

A second school-aged child in West Texas has died from a measles-related sickness, a hospital spokesman confirmed Sunday, because the outbreak continues to swell.

Aaron Davis, a spokesperson for UMC Health System in Lubbock, Texas, mentioned that the child was “receiving therapy for issues of measles whereas hospitalized” and was not vaccinated. The hospital declined to say which day the child died.

Neither the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention nor the Texas State Department of State Health Services embody the dying in their measles reviews issued Friday. Spokespeople for the state well being division and U.S. Health and Human Services Department did not instantly reply to requests for touch upon Sunday.

A unvaccinated school-age child died of measles in February in Lubbock — the primary measles dying in 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 dying.

More 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 Health Organization additionally reported cases associated to Texas in Mexico.

The variety of cases in Texas shot up by 81 between March 28 and April 4, and 16 extra individuals had been hospitalized. A staff from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is on the bottom in Texas aiding with outbreak response.

And nationwide, the U.S. has greater than double the variety of measles cases it noticed in all of 2024.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, has delivered a tepid message on the significance of vaccination towards measles, saying it ought to be inspired whereas additionally sowing doubt in 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.

Experts and native well being officers count on the outbreak to go on for a number of extra months if not a 12 months. In West Texas, the overwhelming majority of cases are in unvaccinated individuals and youngsters youthful than 17.

With a number of states dealing with outbreaks of the vaccine-preventable illness, some fear that measles could value the U.S. its standing as having eradicated the illness.

Measles is a respiratory virus that may survive in the air for as much as two hours. Up to 9 out of 10 people who find themselves inclined will get the virus if uncovered, in line with the CDC. The first shot is advisable for youngsters ages 12 to fifteen months, and the second for ages 4 to six years.