A school -aged child died of measles in West Texas, the first death from the disease in the United States in a decade. According to the city of Lubock’s Health Department, the child was not vaccinated against measles.
Death, confirmed by Catherine Wales, director of Public Health of Lubock Health Department, is part of a rapidly growing outbreak that infects at least 124 people-most children-mostly children in rural west Texas.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, people who have been admitted to the hospital have the official tally 18.
This number is not up to date, a pediatrician Dr. Lara Johnson said that a pediatrician and chief medical officer at the Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubock.
Johnson said in an email that his team has so far taken care of “about 20” children with measles.
All those children, he said, was admitted because they were having trouble breathing. No one was vaccinated against measles.
The outbreak has been limited so far in parts of Texas, bordering New Mexico. The state has also reported nine measles cases, but the authorities have not said whether they are connected.
This is the first measles reported in the US since 2015, when the Washington woman died. Health officials at that time said that it was likely to be exposed to a clinic in a rural part of the state that was experiencing an outbreak.
According to the disease control and prevention centers, measles was abolished in 2000 measles in 2000, as measles-mums-rubella vaccine (MMR) was caused by widespread use.
Two doses of shot are 97% effective in preventing the disease.
