Measles outbreak in Texas: US Health Secretary Kennedy spreads false information

RND - Editorial Network Germany Measles outbreak in Texas: US Health Secretary Kennedy spreads false information 10 hours • 3 minutes reading time A sign outside the Seminole Hospital District informs about the availability of measles tests. After a measles outbreak in the US state of Texas claimed the life of an unvaccinated child, US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appears to be misrepresenting numerous facts. Kennedy said on Wednesday (local time) that the US Department of Health was monitoring the cases in Texas and dismissed the outbreak as "not unusual". He appeared to misrepresent a number of facts, including the claim that most of the people admitted to the hospital were only there for "quarantine". However, the measles outbreak and the child's death were "a big deal," countered 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 put on a ventilator, Johnson told the AP, although she did not want to say how many for privacy reasons. "Unfortunately, as with so many viruses, there are no specific treatment options for measles," she said. First death in ten years Kennedy had also incorrectly 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 taken to the hospital last week. The death was the first from measles in the United States since 2015. So far, 124 people have been infected with measles in the rural region of West Texas, according to the health department. Another nine cases have been reported in the neighboring state of New Mexico. 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 in all of Texas who are missing at least one of the required vaccinations. In the 2023-24 school year, that was almost 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 the age of 18. The outbreak is the largest in Texas in nearly 30 years, according to health officials. Texas Gov. 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. Vaccination rates among kindergarten children below 95 percent 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. Vaccination rates have dropped nationwide since the pandemic, 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.