Texas officials report measles death in unvaccinated child
In a follow-up on the measles outbreak in West Texas, state health officials report the first death from measles in the ongoing outbreak in the South Plains and Panhandle regions. The school-aged child who was not vaccinated was hospitalized in Lubbock last week and tested positive for measles.
This is the first measles death in the US since 2015.
As of Feb. 25, 124 cases of measles have been confirmed in the outbreak since late January. Most of the cases are in children. Eighteen people have been hospitalized over the course of the outbreak.
The best way to prevent getting sick is to be immunized with two doses of a measles-containing vaccine, which is primarily administered as the combination measles-mumps-rubella or MMR vaccine. Two doses of the MMR vaccine prevent more than 97 percent of measles infections.