HOUSTON: An unvaccinated child in Texas has died from measles, health officials confirmed on Wednesday, marking the first measles-related fatality in the United States in nearly a decade, as the country grapples with a growing outbreak and declining immunisation rates.
The death comes amid declining immunisation rates nationwide, with the latest cases concentrated in a Mennonite religious community that historically has shown vaccine hesitancy.
It comes at a delicate moment for US public health as Kennedy, who has long spread falsehoods about the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, begins his tenure as health secretary.
“The school-aged child who was not vaccinated was hospitalised 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 passed away “within the last 24 hours.”
Since the start of the year, more than 130 measles cases have been reported in west Texas and neighbouring New Mexico, the vast majority in unvaccinated children.
Eighteen have been hospitalised in Texas, and health officials warn the outbreak is likely to grow.
Addressing reporters during a meeting of President Donald Trump’s cabinet, Kennedy downplayed the situation, stating, “It’s not unusual. You have measles outbreaks every year.”
He also stated the death toll as two — but neither the Texas nor New Mexico health departments said they knew of any additional fatality.
“While multiple measles outbreaks in the United States have not resulted in a death, it was only a matter of time that one would occur,” infectious disease physician Amesh Adalja of Johns Hopkins University told AFP.
“Measles still kills over 100,000 individuals every year worldwide. The death should serve as a reminder that there was a reason that the vaccine was developed and that the vaccine is a value to individuals,” Adalja said.
“These deaths are almost entirely preventable.”
Religious exemptions
The outbreak’s epicentre is Gaines County, home to a significant Mennonite population, a Christian sect with a history of vaccine hesitancy.
Texas law allows vaccine exemptions for reasons of conscience, including religious beliefs.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a 95 per cent vaccination rate to maintain “herd immunity.”
However, coverage among kindergartners has dropped from 95.2 per cent in the 2019-2020 school year to 92.7 per cent in 2023-2024, leaving some 280,000 children vulnerable.
The last US measles-related death was in 2015, when a woman in Washington state died from pneumonia caused by the virus. She had been vaccinated but was taking immunosuppressive medication. Before that, the previous recorded measles death was in 2003.
Airborne threat
Measles is a highly contagious respiratory virus spread through droplets when an infected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes. It poses a serious risk to unvaccinated individuals, including infants under 12 months who aren’t ordinarily eligible for vaccination, and those with weakened immune systems.
During outbreaks, about one in five infected individuals requires hospitalisation, and one in 20 develops pneumonia.
In rare cases, measles leads to brain swelling and can be fatal. It also increases the risk of pregnancy complications, including premature birth and low birth weight.
The United States reported 285 measles cases in 2023, according to the CDC. The largest recent outbreak was in 2019, with 1,274 cases — primarily in Orthodox Jewish communities in New York and New Jersey — the highest national total in decades.
Before the measles vaccine was introduced in 1963, it is thought that millions contracted the disease annually, and several hundred died. While measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000, outbreaks persist each year.
RFK Jr has repeatedly and falsely linked the MMR vaccine to autism, a claim thoroughly debunked by scientific research.
In one of his first actions in charge, the federal health department postponed a routine meeting of an independent advisory panel that makes vaccine recommendations to the CDC.
