Houston: An unvaccinated child in Texas has died of measles, confirmed health officials on Wednesday, and marked the first measles -related mortality in the United States for almost a decade as the country is struggling with a growing outbreak and falling immunization rates.

Death comes in the midst of falling immunization rates nationwide, with the latest cases concentrated in a Mennonic religious society that has historically shown vaccine hesitation.

It comes at a delicate moment for American public health, as Kennedy, who has long spread the improbability of measles, mumps and red dogs (MMR) vaccine, begins its tenure as a health secretary.

“The school -aged child who was not vaccinated was admitted to the Lubbock hospital last week and tested positively for measles,” the state health department said in a news message.

A statement from Lubbock City confirmed that the child died “within the last 24 hours.”

Since the beginning of the year, more than 130 measles cases have been reported in West Texas and the nearby New Mexico, the vast majority of non -vaccinated children.

Eighteen has been hospitalized in Texas, and health officials warn the outbreak is likely to grow.

Kennedy, who approached journalists during a meeting with President Donald Trump’s cabinet, neglected the situation and said, “It’s not unusual. You have outbreaks of measles every year.”

He also said the death toll as two – but neither Texas nor New Mexico Health Departments said they knew about further mortality.

“While several outbreaks of measles in the United States have not resulted in a death, it was only a matter of time that one would occur,” the infectious disease doctor Amesh Adalja of Johns Hopkins University told AFP.

“Meslinger still kills over 100,000 individuals every year around the world. Death should serve as a reminder that there was a reason why the vaccine was developed and that the vaccine is a value for individuals,” Adalja said.

“These deaths are almost exclusively preventable.”

Religious exceptions

The eruption of the outbreak is Gaines County, home to a significant Mennonite population, a Christian sect with a history of vaccine hesitation.

The Texas Act allows exceptions to vaccine for causes of conscience, including religious beliefs.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a 95 percent vaccination rate to maintain “herd immunity.”

However, coverage among kindergartens has fallen from 95.2 percent in the 2019-2020 school year to 92.7 percent in 2023-2024, which leaves approx. 280,000 children vulnerable.

The last US measles -related death was in 2015 when a woman in Washington State died of pneumonia caused by the virus. She had been vaccinated but took immunosuppressive medication. Before that was the previous recorded measles death in 2003.

Airborne threat

Meslings is a very contagious respiratory virus spread through drops when an infected person breathes, coughing or sneezing. It poses a serious risk of unvaccinated individuals, including infants under 12 months who are not normally eligible for vaccination, and those with weakened immune systems.

During outbreaks, about one in five infected people requires hospitalization and one in 20 develops pneumonia.

In rare cases, measles lead to swelling of the brain and can be fatal. It also increases the risk of pregnancy complications, including premature birth and low birth weight.

The United States reported 285 measles cases in 2023 according to CDC. The largest recent outbreak was in 2019 with 1,274 cases – primarily in Orthodox Jewish communities in New York and New Jersey – the highest national total for decades.

Before the measles vaccine was introduced in 1963, it is believed that millions were given the disease annually and hundreds of dead. While measles were declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, outbreaks remain every year.

RFK JR has repeatedly and falsely connected the MMR vaccine to autism, a requirement that is thoroughly debunked by scientific research.

In one of his first responsible actions, the Federal Health Department postponed a routine meeting in an independent advisory panel that makes vaccine recommendations to the CDC.