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An 8-year-old girl with measles died Thursday morning, the second measles-related death in an ongoing outbreak that has infected nearly 500 Texans since January.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic, is expected to attend the child’s funeral, NBC News reported.
The child was not vaccinated and had no known underlying health conditions, said a spokesperson for University Medical Center in Lubbock, where the child had been hospitalized. “This unfortunate event underscores the importance of vaccination,” the statement read. “We encourage all individuals to stay current with their vaccinations to help protect themselves and the broader community.”
“On behalf of UMC Health System, we extend our thoughts and prayers to the family and loved ones of this child during this very difficult time,” Chief Executive Officer of UMC Mark Funderburk said in a Sunday statement.
The death comes about five weeks after another school-aged child died from measles, the first such death in the country in a decade. That child was unvaccinated, and their family resides in the outbreak area.
The West Texas outbreak has sickened 481 people, most of whom are unvaccinated children, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The outbreak began in Gaines County, located about 90 minutes southwest of Lubbock on the New Mexico border. Since then, cases have been reported in 18 other Texas counties. And the Center for Disease Control has linked measles cases in Oklahoma with the Texas outbreak.
Measles is a highly contagious virus that spreads through respiratory droplets passed through the air by breathing, coughing and sneezing. Vaccination is the safest way to build immunity to the virus.
State health officials have said that the outbreak could persist for months. It has spread most quickly in pockets of Texas with below-average vaccination rates. In Gaines County, where a large unvaccinated Mennonite community resides, 315 people have been infected.
Doctors typically recommend all children get two doses of the MMR vaccine, starting with the first dose at 12 through 15 months and the second dose at 4 through 6 years of age.
Parents of infants aged 6 to 11 months living in outbreak areas should consult their pediatrician about getting the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, Sara Safarzadeh Amiri, chief medical officer for Odessa Regional Medical Center and Scenic Mountain Medical Center, said on Sunday.
Amiri said she was unaware of the second reported death but that it is not unexpected given the continued spread of the outbreak.
So far, 56 measles patients in Texas have been hospitalized, according to state health officials.
— Terri Langford contributed.
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