San Francisco Frontiers - Parents rush to vaccinate children after measles outbreak hits Texas

"Look at you, you're so brave," the nurse administering the shot tells the young girl, who is sitting on her father's lap.

The death came as immunization rates have declined nationwide, with the latest cases in the west Texas town of Lubbock concentrated in a Mennonite religious community that has historically shown vaccine hesitancy.

Mark Medina brought his children, Shado and her brother Azazel, after they heard about that death.

"It kind of sparked fear and we're like, 'Alright, it's time to go get vaccinated. Let's go,'" the 31-year-old father told AFP.

Rachel Dolan, a Lubbock health official, said the initial outbreak spread rapidly through the community south of the town, potentially fueled by a lack of vaccination.

"It's the most contagious virus that we know of, and so just that one little spark, you know, really caused a lot of cases and rapid spread among that population," she said.

This year more than 130 measles cases already have been reported in west Texas and neighboring New Mexico, the vast majority in unvaccinated children.

Around 20 have been hospitalized in Texas, and officials warn the outbreak is likely to grow.

The disease's spread comes as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has long spread falsehoods about the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, begins his tenure as President Donald Trump's health secretary.

Kennedy has downplayed the outbreak, saying: "It's not unusual. You have measles outbreaks every year."

- 'The safe side' -

Nationwide immunization rates have been dropping in the United States, fuelled by misinformation about vaccines.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a 95 percent vaccination rate in order to maintain herd immunity.

However, measles vaccine coverage among kindergartners has dropped from 95.2 percent in the 2019–2020 school year to 92.7 percent in 2023–2024, leaving around 280,000 children vulnerable.

News of the death in Lubbock, however, has spurred some into action.

"Well, I heard about this little kid... That's one of the reasons, just to be on the safe side," said Jose Luis Aguilar, a 57-year-old driver who was encouraged by his boss to get vaccinated.

Dolan, the health official, said there was an increase in people seeking the vaccine since the death.

"There are pockets of our population that are hesitant toward vaccination," she said.

"We have seen some of those people realize that this threat is more imminent and have made that decision to vaccinate."

The CDC says the MMR vaccine is "very effective" at protecting people against those illnesses.

Two doses of the vaccine are 97 percent effective at preventing measles, the agency says.

The last US measles-related death was in 2015, when a woman in Washington state died from pneumonia caused by the virus. She had been vaccinated but was taking immunosuppressive medication.

Before that, the previous recorded measles death was in 2003.

Measles is a highly contagious respiratory virus spread through droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes or simply breathes.

Known for its characteristic rash, it poses a serious risk to unvaccinated individuals, including infants under 12 months who are not ordinarily eligible for vaccination, and those with weakened immune systems.

While measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000, outbreaks persist each year.

L.Nguyen--SFF