Officials have confirmed a measles-related death in West Texas, marking the first fatality in the state in over a decade.
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center spokesperson Melissa Whitfield confirmed the death on Wednesday, which occurred overnight. A public health official said in a statement it was a Gaines County resident who died in a hospital in Lubbock.
The Texas Department of State Health Services said the death was in a ‘school-aged child who was not vaccinated’ and had been hospitalized last week.
Overall, officials have confirmed measles cases have reached at least 124 as of February 25. Overall, 18 people have been hospitalized.
Sixty-two cases are in children between the ages of five and 17 and 39 are in toddlers four years and younger.
Only five of those infected have been vaccinated with the measles (MMR) vaccine. The majority are unvaccinated or their vaccination status is unknown.
The death marks the first in the US since 2015, according to the CDC.
The ongoing measles outbreak in West Texas has reached a staggering 124 cases, making it the largest cluster in the state in the past three decades
Measles is a highly contagious respiratory illness. The virus is transmitted by direct contact with infectious droplets or by airborne spread when an infected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes.
The disease causes tiny white spots inside the mouth, flat red spots on the neck, trunk, arms, legs and feet, ear infections and an intense fever.
In extreme cases, measles can cause pneumonia, encephalitis (swelling of the brain) and may lead to death.
The outbreak is the state’s largest in nearly 30 years and has been concentrated in what the Texas Department of State Health Services called a ‘close-knit, under-vaccinated’ Mennonite community – a Christian sect that has historically shown vaccine hesitancy.
It has also spread into New Mexico, with nine cases currently confirmed.
The epicenter has previously been reported to be in Gaines County in west-central Texas, which had reported 80 confirmed cases.
Meanwhile, Terry County to the north has 21 cases, Dawson County has seven, Yoakum County has five, Martin County has three, Ector County has two and Lubbock as well as Lynn counties have a case each.
Gaines county, with a population of just 21,598, has one of the highest rates of vaccine exemptions in the state and all of those confirmed cases are in unvaccinated people.
Cold-like symptoms, such as a fever, cough and a runny or blocked nose, are usually the first signal of measles
Dr Lara Johnson is a pediatrician and the chief medical officer at Covenant Children’s Hospital in Texas
The measles vaccine (MMR) is 97 percent effective at preventing the virus and is required for children to attend school, but some states, including Texas, allow exemptions based on religious reasons.
Across the country, the percentage of children seeking exemptions has risen over the past decade, from 0.76 percent in 2014 to 3.3 percent during the 2023-2024 school year.
According to the CDC, in 2024 vaccination coverage among kindergartners declined for all shots – down to 93 percent for MMR.
Meanwhile, the Texas Department of Human and Health Services reports 91 percent of kids had received the MMR shot, which is below the ideal vaccination rate.
Ninety-four percent coverage is considered the standard for herd immunity.
Dr Lara Johnson, a pediatrician and chief medical officer at Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, Texas, said she saw the first measles case in her community about a month ago.
Now, she’s warning this is just the ‘beginning of the outbreak, and ‘we’re going to see a lot more illness among unvaccinated kids over the next few months.’
Dr Johnson revealed most of the young patients are being hospitalized for breathing difficulties and are in need of supplemental oxygen, while others have very high fevers, which can be fatal in young children.
The majority of patients are unvaccinated or their vaccination status remains unknown
She wrote for Business Insider: ‘Two doses of the measles vaccine [given at 12 to 15 months and again between 4 and 6 years] prevent 97 percent of measles cases.’
With the outbreak spreading in Texas, she says it is best to keep vulnerable children ‘out of the grocery store and crowded places as much as possible’ and ‘if you’re worried about your baby, call your pediatrician.’
From her experience, Dr Johnson says parents of vaccinated children shouldn’t be overly concerned as they are ‘very unlikely to get it.’
But for parents of unvaccinated children, she says the telltale sign of the virus is a rash which starts on the face.
She also said it isn’t too late for children to get a vaccine – even after exposure.
One infected person can spread the infection to 12 to 18 other people in an unvaccinated population.