A measles outbreak that began in the northwest of Texas last month has already ill to 90 people, the vast majority of which were not vaccinated, according to state data published on Friday, and the figure is expected to continue increasing. Another outbreak has also infected around 10 people in the state of New Mexico.
The outbreak occurs at the time Robert F. Kennedy Jr. begins his mandate as the Secretary of Health of the USA, a position that gives him an important authority on the immunization policy.
Kennedy, a firm skeptic of vaccines, has repeatedly and falsely related the measles vaccine, papers and rubella (SPR) with autism, an affirmation widely denied by scientific research.
At least 77 of Texas cases affect children, 10 adults and no data is available on the remaining three.
Only five cases are of vaccinated people
Sixteen patients have been hospitalized for this highly contagious disease, known above all for their cutaneous eruption, but which can also cause pneumonia, cerebral inflammation and other serious complications.
Only five of the cases have been registered between vaccinated people. Most patients were not vaccinated or their vaccination status is unknown.
Infants cannot receive their first dose of the triple viral vaccine until 12 or 15 months of age, so they are vulnerable in the first years of life. Immunodepressed people also run a higher risk of contracting serious diseases.
Child vaccination rates have been decreasing throughout the US, a trend that accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic in the midst of concern about the rapid deployment of RNM vaccines and generalized misinformation, further erosioning the public confidence in health institutions.
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