The measles outbreak in Texas becomes deadly when parents are looking for pictures

The outbreak of measles in Texas has now become deadly. Texas and federal health officials have just reported the first deaths attributed to the still-growing outbreak, which has become ill over a hundred people.

The Texas Department of State Health Services reported The tragic death of an unvaccinated child “school age” on Wednesday morning. At the first meeting of the Cabinet of the Second Trump Administration held on Wednesday afternoon, Robert F. Kennedy -Jr., the new secretary of health and human services in the United States (HHS), requested That two measles deaths have occurred so far, although it does not provide more details. At least 124 cases and 18 hospitalizations have been documented so far and even the vaccine families are now now haste To get their measles photos.

The outbreak of measles lasts from at least mid -January. This is largely affected people living in menonite communities in the rural region of the southern plains of Western Texas, many of whom are not vaccinated against the highly contagious virus. Health officials had previously had attributed The low percentage of vaccination in these communities, especially to a lack of interaction with the wider health system, and not to an explicit attitude towards anti-vaxation among residents.

A week ago, only with 48 cases reported, the outbreak of measles has already turned into the largest It can be seen in the state in nearly 30 years. Since then, more cases have been documented, both in Western Texas and in border county New MexicoAnd employees fear that hundreds of residents have or will eventually become infected. The fatality reported by the Texas Department of State Health Services is the first death of measles documented in the United States since 2015.

Although this outbreak may not be linked to the movement against vaccination, it convinced some people in the area to change their opinion on the value of the highly effective measles vaccine-which is taken in combination with mumps and rubella vaccines. The parents of vaccines in Lyubbok County, one of the areas, struck heavily from the hearth, began sending their children to receive their photos. Lyubobok County is also where the child who died of measles is hospitalized.

“We have vaccinated many children who have never been vaccinated before, some of the families who did not believe in vaccines,” Catherine Wales, Director of Public Health at the Health Department of Lubbock, to say NBC News Tuesday.

In the US, measles has been locally eliminated for more than two decades. But outbreaks can still occur, especially in places with a percentage of vaccination below the threshold of herd immunity (about 94% of the population). Globally, measles remains a major threat to public health. In 2023, approximately 10 million measles cases were reported worldwide, 20% compared to the previous year, as well as over 100,000 deaths this year. It is also believed that the measles SAP infection of people’s immune memory to other common infections.