First measles death in the USA in a decade

[thewayne]

In Texas, an unvaccinated school-aged child has died of a vaccine-preventable disease in the middle of a growing outbreak.

Thank you, Mister Illustrious Anti-Vaxxer Robert Fucking Kennedy Junior Mint. Add one to your tally.

At least 124 people are sick in Texas, 18 or more hospitalized, and this county shares the border with New Mexico, where at least nine are sick. And while the affected county is not contiguous with my area, we have at least one case in my county.

Fucking anti-vaxxers.

From the article: "It is the first death in the mushrooming outbreak in Texas, and it marks the first measles death in the country since 2015, when a woman with underlying health conditions in Washington state died amid an outbreak. The death highlighted the importance of maintaining high community vaccination rates to prevent the spread of the extremely infectious disease to vulnerable people. Prior to that, the US hadn't recorded a measles death since 2003.

In 2000, the US declared measles to be eliminated, meaning it no longer continuously spreads in the US. Outbreaks that occur have been limited and are generally sparked by cases linked to international travel. In the decade before the measles vaccine became available in 1963, it's estimated that 3 million to 4 million people were infected each year, leading to 48,000 hospitalizations, 1,000 cases of encephalitis (swelling of the brain), and 400 to 500 deaths annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

A disease that had largely been eliminated. One death in over twenty years until now. It's not going to be the last, and it's going to continue to grow, especially in the People's Republic of Texas. And it'll grow in New Mexico, because the rural areas have lot of people just as obstinately stupid and anti-vax as Texans.

https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/02/unvaccinated-school-aged-child-dies-of-measles-in-texas-amid-growing-outbreak/

Comments

[richardf8]

I can't even. And America voted for this. Never forget that. If this nation lived up to what it believes about itself the electoral map would have been 80% blue. But no, too many Nazis among us, so we can't have nice things like freedom from disease.

[thewayne]

I was rather fond of freedom from disease.  Being immune-compromised, I'm going to miss it.

[ndrosen]

I am tempted to uncharitable thoughts about RFK Junior falling ill with a disease that could have been prevented by vaccination, and either dying, or having to resign his office due to severe illness and lasting damage.

[thewayne]

Severe illness that is preventable would be poetic.

[disneydream06]

Excuse my language, but the people who should be getting sick and dying are the damn SOB parents who are refusing to get their kids vaccinated. ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A few years back Minnesota had an outbreak, and a friend of mine told me I should check into getting a booster. I looked into it and the CDC, you know that place that use to help us, actually recommended a booster to people of a certain age and so I went to my doc and got one.
Hopefully that holds me now. :o
Hugs, Jon

[murakozi]

I was in for a covid booster this past Friday and asked the pharmacist if I should do a measles booster. He said I should be okay, since I had one back in 1983. I had all my shots as a kid, but when I went in to register at the high school for my senior year (went to 3 different high schools due to being an army brat), they couldn't read the info in my shot record clearly, so I had to head over to an elementary school on base for a measles shot.

I got to stand in line with the preschoolers. When I got the shot, the woman thanked me because I was the first one all day who didn't cry :D

[disneydream06]

YAY for getting boosted and YAY for not crying for her. :p

[thewayne]

Oh, that's funny!

[felisdemens]

Guess it's time to revive the old classics. "Hey, hey, RFK - how many kids did you kill today?"

[thewayne]

OOOOH!  That's good!  There's a woman in the House, a D, who is a pediatrician.  She laid the entire blame for the child's death on Junior Mint and his ilk for the disinformation campaign that they've been promulgating for the last twenty years.

[silveradept]

Ugh, great Godfrey, some things are learned in blood, or in iron lungs, or other such things. They are supposed to be the kinds of things that, having learned them once with great and terrible cost, you remember the great and terrible cost and you don't forget them. But no, there are apparently more than enough people who believe their right to be free from anyone possibly telling them something is good for them that they're going to kill other people alongside themselves, dancing away while they think the Red Death is very far away from them.