A child has died in the Texas measles outbreak – the first US measles death since 2015
Show Caption
Hide Caption
Measles outbreak infects dozens, spreads to multiple states
A measles outbreak has infected dozens in Texas and New Mexico, with cases also reported in Alaska, Georgia, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island.
Texas officials on Wednesday announced the first measles death in the state's ongoing outbreak of the highly contagious disease.
The death, of a school-age child, is the first measles death in the U.S. since 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Gaines County resident died in Lubbock, Zach Holbrooks, public health director and executive director of the South Plains Public Health District, said in an email. In a statement, Lubbock city and Texas health officials confirmed the hospitalized patient was an unvaccinated school-aged child who died in the last 24 hours.
So far, 124 people are known to have been infected, mostly among people who weren't vaccinated or had no known vaccination status, state data showed. There have been 18 people hospitalized.
The outbreak is believed to have first begun in rural West Texas, in an under-vaccinated Mennonite community in Gaines County, where 80 cases have been identified so far. It has since stretched out across multiple counties and across state lines to New Mexico.
Texas health officials have warned the primary factor for its spread, not just among Mennonite people, has been among people who weren't vaccinated or had no known vaccination status.
So far, nine people, including four children, have been infected in an adjacent New Mexico county, state health officials said. All have been among people who weren't vaccinated or had no known vaccination status.
In 2000, measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. But as vaccination rates have dropped, cases have reappeared.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
27 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Defying RFK Jr., pediatric group urges COVID shots for young kids
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'The majority of what we've seen from the secretary has been a pretty clearly orchestrated strategy to sow distrust in vaccines,' said Sean O'Leary, a physician who heads the AAP's infectious-diseases committee. 'We make our recommendations based on what's in the best interest of the health of children.' Advertisement Andrew Nixon, a spokesman for Kennedy, said AAP, which has received funding from vaccine manufacturers, should 'strengthen conflict-of-interest safeguards and keep its publications free from financial influence.' 'By bypassing the CDC's advisory process and freelancing its own recommendations, while smearing those who demand accountability, the AAP is putting commercial interests ahead of public health and politics above America's children,' Nixon said in a statement. Advertisement The country is in the midst of a summer uptick in coronavirus cases, and the future of vaccine access is uncertain. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not go as far as Kennedy directed and did not remove coronavirus vaccines from the childhood immunization schedule. Instead, the public health agency softened its recommendation for all children to receive an annual coronavirus shot. It now recommends parents consult a doctor to decide whether to vaccinate their children. The AAP took a similar approach for older children. Its new guide says healthy children ages 2 to 18 can receive a coronavirus vaccine if their parents or guardians want them to have that protection. Few parents do. The CDC estimates that 13 percent of all eligible children are up-to-date on coronavirus vaccines, as well as 4.5 percent of children between the ages of 6 months and 23 months. By issuing a broader coronavirus vaccine recommendation for young children, the AAP is trying to boost uptake and keep the shots free. Between October 2022 and April 2024, a little more than half of children between the ages of 6 months and 23 months admitted to intensive care for COVID had no underlying conditions, a CDC study found. Still, the vast majority of children infected by coronavirus will have mild symptoms, and few will become hospitalized. Health officials say it has become difficult to measure the effectiveness of coronavirus vaccines in young children because the vaccination rates are so low. Limited data show the 2024-2025 coronavirus vaccines provided extra protection against severe illness in children and adults compared with people who did not receive a vaccine, according to CDC data presented in June. Advertisement But pediatric infectious-disease specialists have argued that regularly vaccinating children makes sense as a public health strategy because evidence has shown each year that protection in children is similar to that seen in adults. Federal officials have yet to approve or recommend an updated coronavirus vaccine, which usually debuts in late summer. The Food and Drug Administration has signaled it would not license upcoming coronavirus vaccines for otherwise healthy children. Kennedy recently fired all members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a group of experts who decide who should receive FDA-approved or authorized vaccines. Four of the seven members Kennedy appointed as replacements have been publicly critical of the broad use of coronavirus vaccines. For the past three decades, the AAP and the CDC have been mostly aligned in their vaccine recommendations — until now. The AAP's schedule 'differs from recent recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the CDC, which was overhauled this year and replaced with individuals who have a history of spreading vaccine misinformation,' the organization said in a statement. Under federal law, insurers must cover the cost of ACIP-recommended vaccinations. The AAP and other professional organizations have been holding discussions with insurance companies to continue covering the shots based on guidance from professional associations rather than the federal government. O'Leary said insurers 'are signaling that they are committed to covering our recommendations.' AHIP, the major insurance lobby, has said its members are committed to continue paying for respiratory virus vaccines this season. The new ACIP panel did not make any coronavirus recommendations when it met for the first time in late June. It may not even convene a special meeting to discuss the coronavirus vaccines until mid-September, according to industry employees and CDC officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share sensitive information. That timing has become more uncertain after the Aug. 8 shooting at the CDC that severely damaged several buildings and traumatized CDC staff. The ACIP is scheduled to hold a meeting in October. Advertisement The AAP's full vaccine guidance, published Tuesday in the organization's clinical guidebook for infectious-diseases prevention and treatment, represents formal recommendations for immunizations for infants, children, and adolescents against 18 diseases. Its recommendations for flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, are essentially the same as what federal health officials, including Kennedy, have recommended.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Medical group goes against CDC, recommends COVID shots for young kids
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) no longer recommends the COVID-19 vaccine for children — but a major medical group is going against that guidance. On Tuesday, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released its latest annual immunization schedule for children — and it includes vaccines for COVID-19, in addition to flu and RSV. "Infants and children 6 through 23 months of age are at the highest risk for severe COVID-19," the AAP states in its release. Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise In Preventing Recurrence Of Pancreatic, Colorectal Tumors "Given this, the AAP recommends a COVID-19 vaccine for all children ages 6 through 23 months old to help protect against serious illness." The AAP also recommends a "single dose of age-appropriate COVID-19 vaccine" for kids and teens 2 and older who are at high risk of severe COVID, have never been vaccinated before, and who live with people who are at a high risk of severe disease. Read On The Fox News App "The AAP also recommends the vaccine be available for children aged 2-18 who do not fall into these risk groups, but whose parent or guardian desires them to have the protection of the vaccine," the release states. Doctor Reveals The Secret Weapon Against Growing Vaccine Skepticism Worldwide "Among the reasons we decided to move to a risk-based recommendation for healthy older children is the fact that the hospitalization rate for young children and children with underlying medical conditions remains high, in line with rates for many of the other vaccine-preventable diseases for which we vaccinate," said Sean O'Leary, M.D., chair of the AAP Committee on Infectious Diseases, in the release. In May 2025, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that COVID-19 vaccines would be removed from the CDC's routine immunization schedule for healthy children and pregnant women. Instead of a universal recommendation, the CDC's updated guidance calls for "shared clinical decision-making," in which parents and doctors discuss the benefits and risks of vaccination for each individual case. "Where the parent presents with a desire for their child to be vaccinated, children 6 months and older may receive COVID-19 vaccination, informed by the clinical judgment of a healthcare provider and personal preference and circumstances," the CDC's guidance states. Click Here To Sign Up For Our Health Newsletter In total, the AAP's schedule includes immunizations against 18 diseases, recommended for all children from birth to age 18. The AAP noted in a press release that its vaccine schedule "differs from recent recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the CDC." For more Health articles, visit Other included updates involve the pentavalent meningococcal vaccine, the starting age of the human papilloma virus vaccine, and removal of a hepatitis vaccine that is no longer available, the release article source: Medical group goes against CDC, recommends COVID shots for young kids Solve the daily Crossword
CNBC
3 hours ago
- CNBC
Americans are still eating too many ultra-processed foods—here are some healthy swaps
Americans aren't turning to ultra-processed foods as much as they used to, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but consumption still remains high. "Processed foods are foods that don't look like [how] they looked when they were first harvested," Joan Ifland, an expert on processed food addiction, told CNBC Make It in 2023. These processes include "powdering, liquifying, making into a syrup or a crystal, removing the fiber and grounding into a flour [and] heating to such a high temperature that the nutrients are vaporized." Between 2021 and 2023, an average of 53% of all calories consumed by U.S. adults ages 19 and older came from ultra-processed foods, down from 56% in 2017 and 2018, according to the CDC data. For children 18 and younger, between 2021 and 2023, an average of about 62% of their consumed calories came from ultra-processed foods. That's down from around 66% in 2017 and 2018. The CDC collected the data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a survey that has polled Americans about their health choices since the early 1960s. Four ultra-processed foods were the most popular among both kids and adults: If you're looking for some healthier alternatives that you can reach for, instead of a donut or a burger, there are a few that Ifland recommends. Research shows that ultra-processed foods have been linked to serious health issues like Type 2 diabetes, obesity, depression, heart disease and higher mortality rates. When you stop consuming processed foods, "you get better emotional control because you don't have all of that adrenaline and cortisol in your bloodstream. You get better digestion," Ifland said. "We see all kinds of things go into remission, and it's because cells throughout the body are starting to work again."
