A measles outbreak that began in Texas at the end of January charged its first fatal victim. In the west of the southern state, there are already reports of 124 cases of the disease.
A person in western Texas who was hospitalized with measles has died, the first death in an outbreak that began at the end of last month.
The spokeswoman of the Health Sciences Center of the Texas Technological University, Melissa Whitfield, confirmed death on Wednesday. The patient's age is unknown, who died at dawn.
The Covenant Pediatric Hospital in Lubbock did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
The measles outbreak in the rural area of western Texas has increased to 124 cases in nine counties, the State Health Department said Tuesday. There are also nine cases in the east of New Mexico.
The outbreak is spreading largely in the Mennonite community in an area where small villages are separated by vast extensions of open land dotted with oil platforms, but connected because people travel between villages to work, go to church, buy edible and other daily proceedings.
The Gaines County, which has 80 cases, has one of the highest rates of Texas of school -age children who choose not to receive at least a required vaccine; Almost 14 % of children of the school year 2023-2024.
Texas Department of Health Department shows that the vast majority of cases are in children under 18. State health officials have said that this outbreak is the largest in Texas in almost 30 years.
Measles is a respiratory virus that can survive in the air up to two hours. Up to 9 out of 10 susceptible people will contract the virus if they are exposed, according to the centers for the control and prevention of diseases in the United States.
Most children recover, but infection can cause dangerous complications such as pneumonia, blindness, brain inflammation and death.