A school-aged child in Texas has died after contracting measles, the first death to result from the current outbreak spreading throughout the South Plains region of the state where more than 120 cases have been confirmed so far.
The Texas Department of State Health Services on Wednesday said in a statement that an unvaccinated child has died in Lubbock, Texas after having been hospitalized for measles the week prior.
The majority of measles cases confirmed in the state have been detected in school-aged children. About 81 percent of measles cases have been detected in people under the age of 18. Of the 124 infections detected so far, five are vaccinated while the rest are not.
Among the infected, 18 people have been hospitalized.
The outbreak is spreading in an area with a large community of Mennonites, many of whom reject conventional medicine like vaccines though the church itself does not hold an anti-vaccine stance.
In Texas’s Gaines County, where the majority of cases have been detected, one school district was found to have a K-12 vaccine exemption rate of 47.95 percent.
Measles is highly transmissible, with one infected individual capable of infecting nine out of 10 people they encounter. While there are no specific antivirals for measles, the disease can be prevented with one course of a two-dose measles, mumps and rubella vaccination. Most cases will resolve with supportive care but infections carry the risk of pneumonia and encephalitis that could lead to permanent disabilities.
