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Second Child Dies Of Measles In Texas As Illness Hits 23 US States

By RFE/RL April 07, 2025

A second child with measles has died in Texas, where an outbreak of the disease has brought almost 500 cases in the large US state and has spread into at least 22 other states, US officials said.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine advocate who previously insisted that vaccination is a personal choice, on April 6 said vaccines are the best protection against measles.

"The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the [measles, mumps, rubella] vaccine," Kennedy wrote on X.

Texas health officials identified the latest fatality as an 8-year-old girl who was unvaccinated and had no underlying health conditions. She died on April 3 in the hospital from measles pulmonary failure, officials said.

Another child in Texas died earlier in the outbreak, which began in the state in late January.

Previously, measles had been declared eliminated from the United States since 2000 but with occasional cases blamed on travelers from other countries.

As of April 6, Kennedy said there were 642 confirmed cases of measles, with 499 of them occurring in Texas.

Kennedy said teams from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had been sent to Texas at the request of Governor Greg Abbott.

In the past, Kennedy recommended Vitamin A and good nutrition as a treatment for measles. Vitamin A has been shown in some studies in developing countries to lessen the severity of symptoms, but it can also cause liver toxicity if taken in high amounts.

Many Democrats opposed the nomination of Kennedy -- son of late Senator Robert F. Kennedy and a nephew of President John F. Kennedy -- over what they considered unorthodox health theories, including his anti-vaccine stance.

The measles vaccine is 97 percent effective after two shots, officials have said.

On its website, the CDC said the vaccine is "the best protection against measles," which spreads through the air when an infected person sneezes or coughs.

The United States has more than double the number of measles cases it saw in all of last year.

Along with Texas, states with active outbreaks — considered those with three or more cases — are New Mexico, Kansas, Ohio, and Oklahoma, with the virus spreading under-vaccinated areas.

The World Health Organization last week said measles cases in Mexico are linked to those in Texas.

With reporting by AP and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kennedy-measles-death- vaccine-texas/33375291.html

Copyright (c) 2025. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.