A second child dies in measles in Texas
The measles crisis in West texas has challenged the life of another child, the second death in an outbreak that burned through the region and infected dozens of residents in adjacent states.
The 8-year-old girl died early Thursday morning in a hospital in Lubbock, Texas, according to the New York Times records in a hospital in Lubbock, Texas. It is the second confirmed measles death in a decade in the United States.
The hospital, UMC health system, said on Sunday that the girl was not vaccinated and had no underlying health states.
The first victim in the West Texas outbreak was an unvaccinating child who died in February. Another non -vaccinated person died in New Mexico after being tested positively on measles, although the officials have not yet confirmed that measles were the cause of death.
Since the end of January, when the outbreak began, West Texas has registered 480 cases of measles and 56 hospital stays. The outbreak has also spread to the border states that revoke 54 people in New Mexico and 10 in Oklahoma.
If the virus spreads further at this pace, the country endangers that the status of measles excretion loses.
Robert F. Kennedy, the nation's health secretary, was intensively exposed to dealing with the outbreak. As a prominent vaccine skeptic, he offered muffled support for vaccination and recorded unspecified treatments for measles such as liver oil.
According to doctors in Texas, Mr. Kennedy has contributed to the care of the critic and toxic vitamin -a by supporting alternative treatments. -Pliegel recorded.
Experts also fear that the recent decisions by the Trump administration to disassemble the protective measures of the international healthcare system and to promote the financing of local health departments have made large, multi -state outbreaks more likely.
Measles are one of the most contagious pathogens. The virus can linger in the air for up to two hours after an infected person has left the room and spreads when a sick person breathes, coughs or sneezed.
Within a week or two after exposure, those who are infected can develop a high fever, cough, running nose and red, aqueous eyes. Within a few days, a treacherous rash breaks out as flat, red spots on the face and then spreads the neck and upper body onto the rest of the body.
In most cases, these symptoms dissolve in a few weeks. In rare cases, however, the virus causes pneumonia that makes it difficult for patients, especially children, to bring oxygen into their lungs.
It can also lead to swelling of the brain, which can leave permanent problems such as blindness, deafness and intellectual disabilities.
For all 1,000 children who receive measles, one or two of the centers for the control and prevention of diseases die. The virus also harms the body's immune defense and makes it vulnerable to other pathogens.
Christina Jewett contributed the reporting.
