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The measles crisis in West Texas has claimed the life of another child, the second death in an outbreak that has burned through the region and infected dozens of residents in bordering states.
The child, an 8-year-old girl, died early Thursday morning of “measles pulmonary failure” at a hospital in Lubbock, Texas, according to records obtained by The New York Times. Her death is the second confirmed from measles in a decade in the United States.
The hospital, part of UMC Health System, said on Sunday that the girl was unvaccinated and had no underlying health conditions.
The first death in the West Texas outbreak was an unvaccinated child who died in February. Another unvaccinated person died in New Mexico after testing positive for measles, though officials have not yet to confirm that measles was the cause of death.
Since the outbreak began in late January, West Texas has reported 480 cases of measles and 56 hospitalizations. The outbreak has also spread to bordering states, sickening 54 people in New Mexico and 10 in Oklahoma.
If the virus continues to spread at this pace, the country risks losing its measles elimination status, a hard-fought victory earned in 2000. Public health officials in West Texas have predicted the outbreak will continue for a year.
Shortly after the 8-year-old’s death, a prominent figure in the anti-vaccine community blamed the death on the hospital, which he claimed had “improperly medically managed” the case.
Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. helped establish years before he became health secretary, also claimed that a “medical error” at a different hospital in Lubbock had led to the state’s first measles death.
These claims incensed experts, who emphasized that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is extremely effective at preventing measles infections and their complications.
“These are not medical errors,” said Dr. Michael Osterholm, who is an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota and a former official in the Department of Health and Human Services. “This sits squarely on the back of anti-vaccine voices that have continued to spread disinformation.”
Mr. Kennedy has faced strong criticism for his handling of the outbreak. A prominent vaccine skeptic, he has offered muted support for vaccination and has emphasized untested measles treatments, like cod liver oil.
According to doctors in Texas, Mr. Kennedy’s endorsement of alternative treatments has contributed to patients’ delaying critical care and ingesting toxic levels of vitamin A.
“This is a tragedy, an absolutely needless death,” said Dr. Peter Marks, who was the nation’s top vaccine regulator until he resigned last week from the Food and Drug Administration, in part because of Mr. Kennedy’s handling of the measles outbreak.
“To date, the federal response to the ongoing measles outbreak has been inappropriately focused on distracting and ineffective alternatives to the only truly effective prevention — measles vaccine,” he said.
Experts also fear that the Trump administration’s recent decisions to dismantle international public health safeguards and pull funding from local health departments have made large, multistate outbreaks more likely.
On Sunday, Senator Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican who is a medical doctor and cast a critical vote to confirm Mr. Kennedy, encouraged the public on social media to get vaccinated, adding that “top health officials should say so unequivocally b/4 another child dies.”
Measles is one of the most contagious pathogens. The virus can linger in the air for up to two hours after an infected person has left the room and spreads when a sick person breathes, coughs or sneezes.
Within a week or two of being exposed, those who are infected may develop a high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. Within a few days, a telltale rash breaks out as flat, red spots on the face and then spreads down the neck and torso to the rest of the body.
In most cases, these symptoms resolve in a few weeks. But in rare cases, the virus causes pneumonia, making it difficult for patients, especially children, to get oxygen into their lungs.
It may also cause brain swelling, which can leave lasting problems, like blindness, deafness and intellectual disabilities.
For every 1,000 children who get measles, one or two will die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The virus also harms the body’s immune defenses, leaving it vulnerable to other pathogens.
Christina Jewett contributed reporting.
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