Largest outbreak in 30 years: Kennedy gives misinformation about deadly measles outbreak

A measles outbreak in Texas costs a child his life. It is the first death from measles in the USA in ten years. Low vaccination rates are to blame for the infections. Now US Health Secretary Kennedy Jr. is said to have misrepresented numerous facts.

After a measles outbreak in the US state of Texas claimed the life of an unvaccinated child, US Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appears to be misrepresenting numerous facts. Kennedy said that the US Department of Health is monitoring the cases in Texas and dismissed the outbreak as "not unusual". He also claimed that most of the people hospitalized are only there for "quarantine".

However, the measles outbreak and the child's death are "a big deal," said pediatrician Amy Thompson of Covenant Children's Hospital, where the child was treated before his death. Thompson said they are now seeing a "very serious consequence" of the measles outbreak.

The hospital's medical director, Lara Johnson, also contradicted Kennedy: "We are not admitting patients for quarantine purposes." Rather, the respiratory disease had developed into bacterial pneumonia in some of her patients. Some had to be ventilated, Johnson said, although she declined to say how many for privacy reasons. "Unfortunately, as with so many viruses, there are no specific treatment options for measles," she said.

Kennedy also falsely stated that two people had died from measles infection. A spokesman for the Department of Health, Andrew Nixon, later clarified that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had only recorded one death.

Texas health authorities announced on Wednesday that the fatality was a school-age child who had been hospitalized last week. The death was the first from measles in the United States since 2015. According to the health department, 124 people have been infected with measles in the rural region of West Texas so far. Another nine cases have been reported in the neighboring state of New Mexico.

Largest measles outbreak in 30 years

The virus is spreading primarily among members of the Mennonites, an evangelical non-denominational church. Gaines County, where 80 measles infections have been reported, has one of the highest rates of school-age children missing at least one of the required vaccinations in all of Texas. In the 2023-24 school year, that was nearly 14 percent of children from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Data from the Texas Department of Health shows that the vast majority of measles cases occur in patients under 18. The outbreak is the largest in Texas in nearly 30 years, according to health officials. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said his office is in regular contact with the health department and epidemiologists and that vaccination teams are in the "affected area." He called the child's death a tragedy.

The measles virus can survive in the air for up to two hours and is highly contagious. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up to nine out of 10 people exposed to the virus become infected. Most children survive measles without major difficulties, but infection can lead to dangerous complications such as pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and even death.

Kennedy breaks promises

Since the pandemic, vaccination rates have declined nationwide, and in most states, vaccination rates for kindergarten-age children are below 95 percent - a level needed to protect communities from outbreaks.

Kennedy, who is known as a vaccine critic, announced last week that he wanted to review the federal vaccination plan for children that prevents measles, polio and other dangerous diseases. In doing so, he broke a promise. Before his confirmation in the Senate, he had said he did not want to touch the vaccination plan.