A second unvaccinated child has died from measles in Texas, as the United States faces its worst outbreak of the disease in more than 30 years. The school-aged child, with no underlying conditions, died from complications while hospitalised, according to the University Medical Center (UMC) Health System in Lubbock, a leading regional hospital and teaching institution.

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US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. arrived in West Texas and attended the funeral of the school-aged child. “My intention was to come down here quietly to console the families,” Kennedy said in a post on X Sunday.

The death follows another fatal child case in Texas in February and an adult death in neighbouring New Mexico in early March.

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Read More | Texas reports 146 Measles cases as outbreak spreads

Measles outbreak in US

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed 607 measles cases across 21 states this year, more than double the total for all of 2023. Texas has reported 481 cases, the highest statewide tally in decades.

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"If this trend continues, we may surpass the 2019 outbreak -- the worst in nearly 30 years," said Dr Peter Hotez, a leading vaccine expert at Baylor College of Medicine, as per a report on PTI. "And what's tragic is that these deaths are entirely preventable...This is a global wake-up call..Even wealthy nations are not immune if vaccine misinformation and hesitancy are allowed to spread," Hotez added.

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Measles remains one of the most contagious viruses globally, but it is vaccine-preventable. The CDC reports that 97% of current US cases are among unvaccinated individuals or those with unknown vaccine status. Complications from measles include ear infections, hearing loss, pneumonia, croup, diarrhea, blindness and swelling of the brain. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 1 in 5 unvaccinated people in the U.S. who get measles will need hospitalization, as per reports.

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As per a report on Reuters, in Europe, 127,350 cases were reported in 2024, double the number in 2023 and the highest in 25 years, according to the World Health Organization and UNICEF, the United Nations children's organization. In the decade before a vaccine became available in 1963, there were 3 to 4 million U.S. measles cases each year – mostly in children - with 48,000 hospitalizations and 400 to 500 deaths.

The best protection is the vaccine, either given alone or as part of a Measles-Mumps-Rubella shot commonly known as the MMR vaccine or a Measles-Mumps-Rubella-Varicella (MMRV) vaccine, as per reports. Two doses of the MMR vaccine provide 97% protection against the virus. Children typically first receive the vaccine when they are 12 to 15 months old and again at age 4 to 6 years. Adults born before 1957 are presumed to have acquired immunity as they most likely had measles during childhood.

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(With inputs from agencies)