A school-aged child was the first to die from measles in West Texas’ growing outbreak.
The child was unvaccinated and had been hospitalized in Lubbock, Texas, according to Lubbock city spokesperson Lauren Adams. During a press conference hosted by Covenant Health and the City of Lubbock Public Health on Wednesday, officials did not respond to questions about the patient’s specific age, any other health issues, or details about the patient’s education.
This is the first measles-related death in the United States since a woman died in Washington state in 2015.
The number of confirmed measles cases reported in a West Texas outbreak has now reached 124, according to a Texas Department of Health Services update released Tuesday, up 34 from late last week. The majority of cases involve children aged five to seventeen.
At President Donald Trump’s first cabinet meeting on Wednesday, he deferred a question about the measles outbreak in Texas to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, who stated, “We are following the measles epidemic every day.”
Kennedy claimed during the cabinet meeting that there had been two measles deaths, but Texas officials confirmed Wednesday afternoon that there had only been one. Officials in New Mexico reported no measles deaths.
So far, eighteen people have been hospitalized as part of the outbreak. They have all been unvaccinated.
Kennedy stated that hospitalizations were “mainly for quarantine,” but local health officials told CNN that the majority of patients were admitted due to respiratory issues.
“We don’t hospitalize patients for quarantine purposes,” said Covenant Health Lubbock Service Area chief medical officer Dr. Lara Johnson. “Quarantine is not something that would occur in a healthcare setting. “We admit patients who require acute supportive care to our hospital.”
Last week, Johnson told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta that patients have needed supplemental oxygen and respiratory support to help them recover from viral pneumonia caused by measles.
It’s unclear why Kennedy claimed there were two deaths. In response to CNN’s questions about Kennedy’s remarks, HHS Director of Communications Andrew G. Nixon stated that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “is aware of the death of one child in Texas from measles, and our thoughts are with the family.” The CDC continues to provide technical assistance, laboratory support, and vaccines as needed to the Texas Department of State Health Services and New Mexico Department of Health, which are leading the response to this outbreak.”
Kennedy also mentioned previous measles outbreaks, saying, “So it’s not unusual.” Every year, there are outbreaks of measles.
In the press conference, Johnson stated, “The United States had really gotten to a point where we just didn’t see these kinds of outbreaks happening.” Obviously, that has changed over the last 20 years, and we are seeing outbreaks more frequently, but this is related to how much we vaccinate our population.”
“When we think of about vaccine preventable illnesses, they’re only preventable if we have adequate vaccination rates,” he stated.
The majority of the cases, 80, remain in Gaines County, where the outbreak began, but it has also spread to eight other counties. The majority of cases involve people who were not vaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown. Five cases were reported in people who claimed to have been vaccinated.
Measles is an airborne illness that causes a rash, fever, red eyes, and cough. Severe cases can lead to blindness, pneumonia, encephalitis, and brain swelling. In some cases, the illness may be fatal.
While the specific death in Lubbock remains unknown, experts have long warned that measles complications can be fatal in children.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up to three out of every 1,000 children with measles die from respiratory or neurological complications.
According to Dr. Catherine Troisi, an infectious disease epidemiologist at UTHealth Houston who was not directly involved with the Lubbock patient, one in every 20 children who contract measles develop pneumonia, the most common cause of death from the disease.
“These outbreaks last between two and six months. That is a long time. A significant number of children have been infected. Death is uncommon but tragic when it occurs; however, there are numerous other consequences, such as encephalitis and deafness. There is a rare neurological disease that could occur. So, as more people get infected, these complications become more common.”
According to experts, the best way to protect yourself from measles is to get vaccinated with the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine.
According to city officials, the Lubbock Department of Health has opened free vaccination clinics, and approximately 70 vaccinations have been administered since the outbreak began.
Gaines County has a particularly low coverage rate for the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, with nearly one in every five incoming kindergarteners not receiving the vaccine in the 2023-24 school year. Other affected Texas counties fall short of HHS’s 95% goal for preventing outbreaks of the highly contagious disease.
Given how contagious measles is, health officials predict that cases will continue to rise in West Texas.
“I am confident that the number of cases will increase… Texas as a whole is undervaccinated, so there are vulnerable people,” Troisi explained. She is also concerned about the disease’s contagious nature: people do not show symptoms before becoming infectious, and the virus can remain in the air for up to two hours after a person infected leaves the area.
“The measles virus is the most contagious we know. However, it is a harbinger of low vaccination rates, and it is very likely that we will see outbreaks of other vaccine-preventable diseases as vaccination rates fall,” Troisi said.
Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, believes that the 124 cases identified in Texas are most likely an undercount. He believes that some children may not be seeking medical care or are still waiting for laboratory confirmation. Texas health officials have identified several public locations, including a university campus, a museum, and convenience stores, where measles exposures may have occurred in recent weeks.
Hotez is particularly concerned about an upcoming rodeo in Houston, which draws families from West Texas.
“It will continue as long as the virus infects children who have not been vaccinated. Unfortunately, vaccination rates in many counties in West Texas remain unacceptably low. So that’s why I believe it could continue for a while,” Hotez said.
