If outbreak progresses, administration will \u201chave to take action very strongly.\u201d, says Trump
\n Washington
\nA second child with measles has died in Texas, state officials said on Sunday, in an outbreak of the childhood disease that has resulted in nearly 500 cases in Texas and has spread across 22 states.
\nThe unvaccinated school-aged child, who had no underlying health conditions, died on Thursday in the hospital from measles pulmonary failure, the Texas Department of State Health Services said.
\n\u201cThe child was receiving treatment for complications of measles while hospitalised,\u201d Aaron Davis, a spokesperson for UMC Health System in Lubbock, Texas, said in an email.
\nIt is the second death of a child in Texas since the measles outbreak began in late January in Gaines County, where the vaccination rate is about 82%, below the 95% considered protective for those who cannot be vaccinated.
\nWhen asked about the measles death, US President Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One that if the outbreak progresses his administration will \u201chave to take action very strongly.\u201d
\nHealth and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, in a post on X, identified the child as 8-year-old Daisy Hildebrand and said he visited Texas on Sunday to comfort the family.
\nKennedy, an anti-vaccine advocate who has declared that vaccination is a personal choice, said on Sunday vaccines are the best protection against measles.
\n\u201cThe most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine,\u201d he said in the post on X. He said that as of Sunday there were 642 confirmed cases of measles, 499 of those in Texas.
\nKennedy has previously also recommended Vitamin A as a measles treatment, along with good nutrition. While Vitamin A has been shown in some studies in developing countries to lessen the severity of symptoms, it can lead to liver toxicity in high quantities.
\nRepublican US Senator Bill Cassidy, a physician who chairs the Senate health committee, wrote on X after the child\u2019s death was disclosed: \u201cEveryone should be vaccinated.\u201d
\n\u201cTop health officials should say so unequivocally b\/4 another child dies,\u201d Cassidy wrote on X.
\nCassidy had backed Kennedy\u2019s confirmation after Kennedy promised not to make changes to vaccine oversight.
\nThe measles vaccine is 97% effective after two shots.
\nHe said teams from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention have been redeployed to Texas at the request of the state\u2019s governor, Greg Abbott.
\nThe CDC on its website says the vaccine is \u201cthe best protection against measles,\u201d which spreads through the air when an infected person sneezes or coughs.
\nKennedy hearing postponed
\nCassidy last week called for Kennedy to appear before the Senate health committee on April 10 to discuss the US health department\u2019s restructuring in which 10,000 people were being laid off, including from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
\nBut on Friday a committee official said the hearing would not occur on April 10 because seven days\u2019 notice had not been given as required by committee procedure.
\n No date has been set.
\nThe Texas Department of State Health Services reported on Friday 59 new measles cases in three days, a 15% jump, for a total of 481 in the state since late January.
\nRelated measles outbreaks have been reported in other states, including New Mexico and Oklahoma. In addition, an unvaccinated New Mexico adult tested positive for measles after dying in March.
\nAs of Thursday, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported a weekly nationwide increase of 124 measles cases, bringing the total to 607 so far this year. That compares to a nationwide total in 2024 of 285 reported cases.
\nCDC officials said 97% of US cases are unvaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status.
\nPediatricians and other doctors are pushing back against vaccine hesitancy and warning parents that vitamin A and other supplements touted by vaccine critics will not protect their children from the highly contagious and potentially fatal disease.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If outbreak progresses, administration will \u201chave to take action very strongly.\u201d, says Trump Washington A second child with measles has died in Texas, state officials said on Sunday, in an outbreak of the childhood disease that has resulted in nearly 500 cases in Texas and has spread across 22 states. The unvaccinated school-aged child, who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471181,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-471167","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n