New cases of measles have been reported since the first death in West Texas during the ongoing outbreak.
The pediatric patient, who lived in Gaines County, passed away in Lubbock, Texas, on Tuesday, according to a statement from health officials.
The child was described as “school-aged” and unvaccinated, as reported by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). The identity and gender were not disclosed.
FIRST MEASLES DEATH REPORTED IN WEST TEXAS AMID GROWING OUTBREAK
A total of 124 measles cases have been confirmed in the West Texas outbreak since late January (as of Feb. 25).
New measles cases have been reported since the first death in West Texas amid the ongoing outbreak. (iStock)
Most of the cases involve children, with a total of 18 people hospitalized, per the DSHS press release.
Measles cases have also been confirmed in other states.
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The New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) has identified an outbreak of the highly contagious virus in Lea County, near Gaines County, Texas.
A total of nine cases have been confirmed in the county as of Feb. 25, according to the NMDOH’s website.
Four of them are aged between 5 and 17 years, and the remaining five are adults.
Most cases have involved patients who were not vaccinated, according to reports. (iStock)
The New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) has also confirmed three total cases of measles.
The first case was reported on Feb. 14 in an unvaccinated individual, as per a press release.
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The infected individual had recently traveled internationally and had visited the emergency department at Englewood Hospital in Bergen County on Feb. 9.
The remaining two cases affected individuals who had close contact with the initial person, according to local reports.
‘Wildly contagious’
Fox News’ senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel commented on the first measles death on Wednesday, attributing vaccination non-compliance as the likely reason for the disease spreading through Texas and now into New Mexico.
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Siegel emphasized that high exemption rates for childhood vaccines, currently below 85% compliance, are to blame. Most cases have occurred in unvaccinated individuals, particularly school-aged children.
“Keep in mind that for herd immunity (where those who cannot be vaccinated because they are pregnant or immunocompromised and can’t take a live vaccine are protected), we need a vaccination rate of around 95%,” he informed Fox News Digital.
“In Texas, it is currently at 91%, and more bills for further exemptions are before the state legislature.”
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The doctor highlighted that measles is “wildly contagious among unvaccinated individuals” and that the hospitalization rate is one in five, according to CDC data.
As pneumonia can occur in one out of every 20 measles cases, Siegel suggested this could explain the recent measles death.
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“Out of the 124 patients so far, there are 18 hospitalizations, likely most from pneumonia,” he shared. “There are probably hundreds more cases that are not being reported.”
