Child passes away in Texas amid measles outbreak among members of Christian sect

The child, who was of school age, died after being admitted to the hospital in Lubbock, located in northwest Texas, according to a statement from the state’s health department.

This incident has occurred at a time when immunisation rates are decreasing in the US and there is ongoing controversy over the appointment of Robert F Kennedy Jr, a vaccine skeptic, as the nation’s top health official.

Since the beginning of the year, Texas and the neighboring state of New Mexico have together reported over 130 cases of measles, with the majority of these affecting individuals who have not been vaccinated.

Health officials have claimed that most cases have been identified within a community of followers of the Mennonite Christian sect, who are generally hesitant to get vaccinated.

Addressing the outbreak during US President Donald Trump’s first cabinet meeting, Kennedy, who has publicly supported discredited research suggesting a link between vaccines and autism, downplayed the severity of the situation. According to him, having four measles outbreaks this year is not unusual considering there were 16 outbreaks last year.

The number of measles cases in the US reached a nearly two-decade high of 1,274 in 2019, before dropping significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, 285 cases have been reported, up from 59 in 2023 and 121 in the previous year.

The World Health Organization had declared measles eliminated from the US in 2000, but the status is now under threat due to the growing anti-vaccine sentiment.

Measles can be extremely hazardous for those who are not vaccinated, including young infants who are not usually eligible for immunisation. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately one in five unvaccinated individuals in the US who contract measles require hospitalisation, and as many as one in every 20 children may develop pneumonia.