An unvaccinated person who died in New Mexico was tested positive for measles, state health officials announced Thursday, perhaps the second death of this type in an increasing epidemic that started in western Texas.
The officials have not yet confirmed that measles was the cause of death and said that the person had not sought medical treatment before dying.
The announcement came a little over a week after a The child is dead Benefits in the county of Gaines, Texas, the first death of this type in the United States in 10 years.
Ten cases of measles, six adults and four children, were reported in the county of Lea, NM, which borders the county of Gaines, the epicenter of the epidemic of western Texas.
This epidemic was a fire trial of the new secretary for health and social services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an eminent vaccination skeptic. His equivocal response has aroused severe criticism from scientists, who say he offered Sweet support for vaccination and a Uncounted treatments highlighted For measles like cod liver oil.
Instead of raising the security and effectiveness of vaccines widely, as the former HHS secretaries, Kennedy said, said the vaccines help protect against measles but that the decision to vaccinate “is personal”.
All cases of new-mexic involved an unaccompanied person or with an unknown vaccine status. Although business in the New Mexico was not officially linked to the Texas epidemic, the officials said that a link was “suspected”.
Tuesday, the measles epidemic in western Texas satiated nearly 160 peopleWith 22 hospitalized.
New Mexico health officials have urged residents to obtain the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, which, according to experts, is the best way to protect against the disease. Two doses of the vaccine prevent more than 97% of measles infections.
“We do not want to see the New Mexicans fall sick or die of measles,” said Dr. Chad Smelser, a state epidemiologist, in a press release.
The measles virus, which spreads when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezing, is extremely contagious. Each infected person can spread the pathogen to up to 18 others.
In a week or two after being exposed, those infected can develop a strong fever, a cough and a flowing nose and red and aqueous eyes. In a few days, a revealing rash bursts, first as flat and red on the face, then spreading the neck and chest to the rest of the body.
In most cases, these symptoms are resolved in a few weeks. But in rare cases, the virus causes pneumonia, which makes it difficult for patients, especially children, to obtain oxygen in their lungs.
Infection can also cause brain swelling, which can cause lasting damage, including blindness, deafness and intellectual disability.
For 1,000 children who get measles, one or two will die, depending on the centers for disease control and prevention.
The virus also weakens the immune system in the long term, which makes its host more sensitive to future infections.
A 2015 study revealed that before the ROR vaccine is widely available, measles could be responsible for half of all deaths by infectious disease in children.
(Tagstotranslate) Illness rate (T) Vaccination and vaccination