Unvaccinated Child Dies of Measles in Texas, First US Death in Decade
A school-aged child in Texas has died from measles, marking the first reported death from the disease in the United States in ten years, Al Jazeera reports.
The child, who was unvaccinated, succumbed to the illness after being hospitalized in Lubbock, according to a statement released Wednesday by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The death occurs amidst a measles outbreak affecting Texas and New Mexico, with over 130 cases reported this year, predominantly among unvaccinated individuals. Health officials have identified a cluster of cases within a community associated with the Mennonite Christian sect, where vaccine hesitancy is known to exist.
“Last year, there were 16. So, it’s not unusual. We have measles outbreaks every year,” Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said at a cabinet meeting while adressing the situation.
While measles cases in the US reached a near two-decade high of 1,274 in 2019, numbers decreased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, cases have surged again, with 285 reported in 2024, a significant increase from 59 in 2023 and 121 in 2022.
The World Health Organization declared measles eliminated from the U.S. in 2000, signifying the absence of sustained outbreaks. This status is now threatened by growing anti-vaccine sentiment. The last reported measles-related death in the US was in 2015, following a 12-year period without such fatalities.
Measles poses a significant risk to unvaccinated individuals, particularly young children who are not yet eligible for vaccination. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that some one in five unvaccinated individuals who contract measles require hospitalization, and up to one in 20 children with measles develop pneumonia.
