Texas measles cases rise to 146 in the outbreak that led to the death of the child

Dallas – The number of people with measles in Texas increased to 146 in a outbreak that led this week to the death of an unvaccinated school age, healthcare officials said on Friday.

The number of cases increased by 22 Tuesdays in the largest outbreak in Texas in almost 30 years. The Health Department of the State Department of Texas said the cases extend to nine counties in West Texas, including almost 100 in Gaines County, and 20 patients have been hospitalized so far.

The child who died on Tuesday night in the outbreak is the first US death due to extremely contagious, but preventable respiratory disease, said US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The child was treated at the covenant hospital for children in Lubbock, although the unit said that the patient does not live in Lubbock County.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the best nation’s best official and a vaccine critic, He said this week that the Human Health and Human Services department was pursuing cases, but rejected the focal point “is not unusual”.

The virus has spread largely through the Texas from West Rural, Oil, western Texas, with concentrated cases in a “close, subvaccinated community”, said the spokesman of the State Health Department, Lara Anton.

Gaines County has a powerful community of school and private schools. It also houses one of the highest rates of Texas school-age children, who gave up at least one required vaccine, almost 14% have jumped a necessary dose in the school year.

Texas law allows children to obtain an exemption from school vaccines for reasons of consciousness, including religious beliefs. Anton said that the number of unvaccinated children in Gaines County is probably significantly higher, because no data on school children will be reported.

The vaccine against measles, mumps and rubes (MMR) is safe and extremely effective in preventing infection and severe diseases. The first shot is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old, and the second for ages between 4 and 6. Most children will recover from measles, but the infection can lead to dangerous complications, such as pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and death.

The vaccination rates have decreased nationally from the Covid-19 Pandemia, and most states are below the 95% vaccination threshold for kindergartens needed to protect communities against measles outbreaks.

The US considered measles, a respiratory virus that can survive in the air for up to two hours, eliminated in 2000, which meant that there was a stop in the continuous spread of the disease for at least one year. The measles cases increased in 2024, including a Chicago outbreak that became more than 60.

East New Mexico has nine cases of measles today, but the State Health Department said there is no connection with the West Texas outbreak.

Stengle writes for Associated Press.