Houston: Texas health officials have confirmed the death of an unvaccinated child from measles, indicating the first fatality associated with a highly contagious disease in the United States in nearly a decade.
Deaths come amid a decline in vaccination rates nationwide, with the latest incidents focusing on Mennonite religious communities, which have historically shown reluctance to vaccines.
Kennedy comes in a subtle moment for our public health as Kennedy, who has long spread falsehoods about measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines.
“A school-age child who has not been vaccinated was hospitalized in Lubbock last week and tested positive for measles,” the state health department said in a news release.
A statement from Lubbock City confirmed that the child had passed away “within the last 24 hours.”
Since the beginning of this year, more than 130 cases of measles have been reported in West Texas and nearby New Mexico.
Eighteen people have been hospitalized in Texas, and health officials warn that the outbreak is likely to grow.
Speaking to reporters during a meeting in President Donald Trump’s cabinet, Kennedy downplayed the situation and said, “That’s not uncommon. You get measles every year.”
He also said the death toll was two, but the Texas and New Mexico Health Departments also know more fatalities.
“The multiple measles outbreaks in the US have not been fatal, but it was only a matter of time before it happened,” Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease doctor at Johns Hopkins University, told AFP.
“Measles still kills more than 100,000 individuals worldwide each year. Death must be a reminder that there is a reason for the vaccine was developed and that it is valuable to individuals,” Adarja said.
“These deaths are almost completely preventable.”
Religious exemption
The epicenter of the outbreak is Gaines County, where there is a significant population of Mennonite, a Christian sect with a history of vaccine reluctance.
Texas law allows vaccine exemptions on reasons of conscience, including religious beliefs.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a 95% vaccination rate to maintain “school immunity.”
However, the coverage for kindergarteners has decreased from 95.2% in the 2019-2020 grade to 92.7% in 2023-2024, making roughly 280,000 children vulnerable.
The last measles-related death in the United States came in 2015, when a Washington state woman died of pneumonia caused by the virus. She was vaccinated, but was taking immunosuppressant medications. Before that, the previous recorded death of measles was in 2003.
**Air threat**
Measles is a highly contagious respiratory virus that spreads into drops when an infected person breathes, coughs, sneezes or sneezes. It usually poses serious risks to unvaccinated individuals, including babies under 12 months of age who are not eligible for vaccination, and those with weakened immune systems.
During the outbreak, approximately one in five infected individuals require hospitalization, and one in 20 develops pneumonia.
In rare cases, measles can lead to swelling in the brain, which can be fatal. It also increases the risk of complications of pregnancy, including preterm birth and low birth weight.
According to the CDC, the US reported 285 measles cases in 2023. The most recent outbreak took place in 2019, with 1,274 cases – the highest national total in decades, primarily in the Orthodox Jewish communities in New York and New Jersey.
Before the measles vaccine was introduced in 1963, millions were diagnosed with the disease each year, and hundreds are believed to have died. In 2000, measles was declared excluded in the United States, but this continues to occur every year.
RFK JR has repeatedly mislinked the MMR vaccine to autism. This is an argument that has been thoroughly exposed by scientific research.
In one of the first actions in charge, the federal health department postponed a routine meeting of the Independent Advisory Committee, which will recommend vaccines to the CDC.