A school -age child not vaccinated in Texas has died of measles, the first associated with an outbreak in the western part of the state that has infected more than 100 people.
The spokeswoman for the city of Lubbock, Lauren Adams, confirmed the death of ABC News on Wednesday.
In a press release, the Health Services of the Texas State Department (DSHS) said the child was hospitalized in the city of northwest Lubbock last week and tested for measles.
Until Wednesday, 124 measles cases associated with the outbreak have been confirmed, according to DSHS data.
Almost all cases are found in unvaccinated individuals or individuals whose vaccination status is unknown, and 18 people have been hospitalized so far, DSHS said.
A person’s body is covered with an eruption, measles in this file without date.
Natalya Maisheva/Getty Images
Children and adolescents between 5 and 17 years represent most cases with 62, followed by 39 cases between children 4 years or less.
The outbreak began in Gaines County, which has become the epicenter, with 80 confirmed cases among residents, according to DSHS.
Since then, the outbreak has spread to several counties in the region and “suspected” that has spread to New Mexico, according to New Mexico Health Department (NMDOH). Nine cases have been confirmed in Lea County, which limits with Texas. Of the nine cases, four are among the children, according to NMDOH.
“This death underlines the real danger of measles: it is a serious illness that can come alive despite being preventable with vaccination,” said Dr. John Brownstein, epidemiologist and taxpayer of ABC News. “Each new case is a reminder of why vaccination is critical. Tragically, with an outbreak of this scale, a fatal case was not unexpected, especially among those not vaccinated. Given how contagious measles is, we anticipate more cases in the Next weeks. “
During the meeting of the cabinet on Tuesday, Health and The Secretary of Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., answered a question about the outbreak, saying that the agency was following the cases in Texas.
Kennedy seemed to minimize the outbreak, noting that there have been four outbreaks so far this year compared to 16 last year. However, the number of cases only in Texas is equivalent to Almost half of the 285 cases confirmed in 2024.
“It’s not unusual; we have measles outbreaks every year,” he said.
Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known by humans. Only an infected patient can extend measles to Nine out of 10 susceptible nearby contactsaccording to the centers for disease control and prevention (CDC).
Health officials have urged anyone who is not vaccinated to receive the measles vaccine, papers, rubella (MMR).
CDC currently recommended People receive two doses of vaccine, the first of 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years. A dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective. Most vaccinated adults do not need reinforcement.
Measles was declared eliminated from the USA. In 2000, due to the highly effective vaccination program, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, vaccination rates have been lagging behind in recent years.
Around 93% of the kindergartens throughout the country received select infant routine vaccines, including the MMR vaccine, for the 2022-23 school year, according to a report on the November CDC, 2023.
This is almost the same as the previous school year, but lower than 94% seen in the 2020-22021 school year and 95% seen in the 2019-2020 school year, before the COVID-19 pandemic. The last percentage had been the standard for approximately 10 years.
Youri Benadjaoud of ABC News contributed to this report.
