Signs inform people of measles prevention and testing at the Gaines County Court House in Seminole, Texas, U.S. on Sunday. (Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune via Reuters)
WASHINGTON--A second child with measles has died in Texas, state officials said on Sunday, in an outbreak of the childhood disease that has resulted in nearly 500 cases in Texas and has spread across 22 states.
The school-aged child, who was unvaccinated and had no underlying health conditions, died on Thursday in the hospital from measles pulmonary failure, the Texas Department of State Health Services said.
"The child was receiving treatment for complications of measles while hospitalized," Aaron Davis, a spokesperson for UMC Health System in Lubbock, Texas, said in an email.It is the second death of a child in Texas since the measles outbreak began in late January.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in a post on X, identified the child as 8-year-old Daisy Hildebrand. Kennedy, who has been an anti-vaccine advocate and previously has said vaccination is a personal choice,on Sunday said vaccines are the best protection against measles.
"The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine," he said in the post on X. He said that as of Sunday there are 642 confirmed cases of measles, 499 of those in Texas.
Kennedy said in his post that he visited Texas to comfort the Hildebrand family after their daughter's death. He added that he got to know the family of the first child in Texas to die in the measles outbreak, Kayley Fehr, "after she passed away in February."
Kennedy said that teams from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been redeployed to Texas at the request of the state's governor, Greg Abbott.
Kennedy has previously recommended Vitamin A as a measles treatment, along with good nutrition. While Vitamin A has been shown in some studies in developing countries to lessen the severity of symptoms, it can lead to liver toxicity in high quantities.
Kennedy's post about vaccines came after Republican U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, who is also a physician and chair of the Senate health committee, wrote on X after the child's death was disclosed: "Everyone should be vaccinated."
"Top health officials should say so unequivocally b/4 another child dies," Cassidy wrote on X.Cassidy had backed Kennedy's confirmation after Kennedy promised not to make changes to vaccine oversight.
