First Death Reported In Texas Measles Outbreak

In a news release, The Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed the first death from a measles outbreak in West Texas. According to the agency the case was a “school-aged child who was not vaccinated” and had been hospitalized in Lubbock. 

The measles outbreak was first reported in rural Gaines County. As of this week there have been 124 cases of the measles in Texas and New Mexico. Eighteen people have been hospitalized.  

The World Health Organization calls measles a “highly contagious disease” that can lead to severe complications, and even death. Before a vaccine was introduced to combat the disease, which mostly impacts children, epidemics would occur every few years. WHO believes that measles killed over 2.5 million a year.

The Centers for Disease Control declared the measles eradicated in the United States in 2000 thanks to a vigorous vaccine campaign. They recommend a two-dose vaccine for children that is administered between 12 and 15 months; and then between four and six years-old.

Gaines County, which is just at the edge of New Mexico, has one of the highest rates of vaccine exemptions in Texas. Currently in the state, children can get an exemption for vaccines to attend schools based on “reason of conscience.” Now about 2.3 percent of children in the state are not vaccinated. 

There have been several bills filed in this legislative session to make opting out of vaccines even easier in Texas, where many Republican lawmakers have embraced an anti-vaccine mentality. That anti-vaccine sentiment has also taken over the federal government through HHS Head Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He has touted many debunked studies claiming to link vaccines to autism.

For now in Texas, health officials have set up mobile testing clinics in the impacted counties. NBC News has reported that at least some families are now opting to vaccinate their children or to obtain immunoglobin shots if they might have been exposed.