U.S. Well being and Human Providers Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited the epicenter of Texas’ still-growing measles outbreak on Sunday, the identical day a funeral was held for a second younger little one who was not vaccinated and died from a measles-related illness.
Kennedy mentioned in a social media submit that he was working to “management the outbreak” and went to Gaines County to consolation the households who’ve buried two younger kids. He was seen late Sunday afternoon outdoors of a Mennonite church the place the funeral companies had been held, however he didn’t attend a close-by information convention held by the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention concerning the outbreak.
Seminole is the epicenter of the outbreak, which began in late January and continues to swell — with practically 500 circumstances in Texas alone, plus circumstances from the outbreak believed to have unfold to New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and Mexico.
The second younger little one died Thursday from “what the kid’s physician described as measles pulmonary failure,” and didn’t have underlying well being situations, the Texas State Division of State Well being Providers mentioned Sunday in a news release. Aaron Davis, a spokesperson for UMC Well being System in Lubbock, mentioned that the kid was “receiving remedy for problems of measles whereas hospitalized.”
That is the third recognized measles-related demise tied to this outbreak. One was another elementary school-aged child in Texas and the opposite was an adult in New Mexico; neither had been vaccinated.
It’s Kennedy’s first go to to the realm as well being secretary, the place he mentioned he met with households of each the 6- and 8-year-old kids who died. He mentioned he “developed bonds” with the Mennonite community in West Texas through which the virus is generally spreading.
Kennedy, an anti-vaccine advocate earlier than ascending to the position of nation’s prime well being secretary earlier this 12 months, has resisted urging widespread vaccinations because the measles outbreak has worsened beneath his watch. On Sunday, nevertheless, he mentioned in a prolonged assertion posted on X that it was “the best option to forestall the unfold of measles.”
The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine has been used safely for greater than 60 years and is 97% efficient in opposition to measles after two doses.
Dr. Manisha Patel, CDC incident supervisor, mentioned in a Sunday information convention that the MMR vaccine is the easiest way to guard in opposition to measles. She additionally instructed mother and father in Gaines County that it was vital to not “delay care” for a kid who’s sick with measles.
“Name your physician and be sure you’re speaking to a well being care skilled who can information you on these subsequent steps,” Patel mentioned.
Kennedy’s social media submit mentioned CDC staff had been “redeployed.” CDC spokesman Jason McDonald clarified late Sunday that the primary CDC workforce arrived in early March and left Gaines County on April 1, whereas a workforce led by Patel “was redeployed and arrived at the moment to evaluate wants” as ordered by Kennedy and requested by Texas’ governor.
Requested concerning the outbreak Sunday by reporters on Air Drive One, Trump mentioned, “they’re doing reviews on it,” including that if the outbreak “progresses, we’ll should take motion very strongly.”
Neither the CDC nor the state well being division included the demise of their measles reviews issued Friday, however the CDC acknowledged it when requested Sunday.
The variety of circumstances in Texas shot up by 81 between March 28 and April 4, and 16 extra folks had been hospitalized. Nationwide, the U.S. has greater than double the variety of measles cases it noticed in all of 2024.
Republican U.S. Sen. Invoice Cassidy from Louisiana, a liver doctor whose vote helped cinch Kennedy’s affirmation, referred to as Sunday for stronger messaging from well being officers in a post on X.
“Everybody needs to be vaccinated! There isn’t any remedy for measles. No profit to getting measles,” he wrote. “Prime well being officers ought to say so unequivocally b/4 one other little one dies.”
Cassidy has requested Kennedy to seem earlier than his well being committee Thursday, though Kennedy has not publicly confirmed whether or not he’ll attend.
A CDC spokesperson famous the efficacy of the measles vaccine Sunday however stopped wanting calling on folks to get it. Departing from long-standing public well being messaging round vaccination, the spokesperson referred to as the choice a “private one” and inspired folks to speak with their physician. Folks “needs to be knowledgeable concerning the potential dangers and advantages related to vaccines,” the spokesperson added.
Misinformation about learn how to forestall and deal with measles is hindering a sturdy public well being response, together with claims about vitamin A dietary supplements which were pushed by Kennedy and holistic medication supporters regardless of medical doctors’ warnings that it needs to be given beneath a doctor’s orders and that an excessive amount of will be harmful.
Docs at Covenant Kids’s Hospital in Lubbock, the place the primary measles demise occurred, say they’ve handled fewer than 10 kids for liver points from vitamin A toxicity, which they discovered when operating routine lab exams on kids who should not absolutely vaccinated and have measles. Dr. Lara Johnson, chief medical officer, mentioned the sufferers reported utilizing vitamin A to deal with and stop the virus.
Dr. Peter Marks, the Food and Drug Administration’s former vaccine chief, mentioned accountability for the demise rests with Kennedy and his employees. Marks was pressured out of the FDA after disagreements with Kennedy over vaccine security.
“That is the epitome of an absolute useless demise,” Marks instructed The Related Press in an interview Sunday. “These youngsters ought to get vaccinated — that’s the way you forestall folks from dying of measles.”
Marks additionally mentioned he not too long ago warned U.S. senators that extra deaths would happen if the administration didn’t mount a extra aggressive response to the outbreak.
Specialists and native well being officers anticipate the outbreak to go on for several more months if not a 12 months. In West Texas, the overwhelming majority of circumstances are in unvaccinated folks and kids youthful than 17.
With a number of states dealing with outbreaks of the vaccine-preventable illness — and declining childhood vaccination charges nationwide — some fear that measles might price the U.S. its standing as having eradicated the illness.
Measles is a respiratory virus that may survive within the air for as much as two hours. As much as 9 out of 10 people who find themselves vulnerable will get the virus if uncovered, according to the CDC. The primary shot is advisable for kids ages 12 to fifteen months, and the second for ages 4 to six years.
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Seitz reported from Washington. Photojournalist Annie Rice in Seminole, Texas, and AP reporter Matthew Perrone in Washington contributed to this report.
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The Related Press Well being and Science Division receives help from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Academic Media Group and the Robert Wooden Johnson Basis. The AP is solely liable for all content material.
