Measles kills in Texas, Minister recommends vaccine

A second child has died from measles in Texas. The State is facing a disease that hadn't caused any fatalities in 10 years. The victims weren't vaccinated. Health Minister changes his mind on the issue.

Robert Kennedy Jr, the US Health Minister, had never hidden his scepticism towards vaccines. However, he has just advised getting vaccinated against measles. He wrote on platform X that "the MMR vaccine is the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles". This statement came after a meeting with the parents of an 8-year-old girl who succumbed on April 3 due to lung complications related to measles, according to Texas health authorities. She had no prior medical conditions, but she wasn't vaccinated. The first child who died in February 2025 had not received a vaccine either. In neighbouring Louisiana, another unvaccinated person also lost their life in February due to the MV virus.

Not enough vaccinated

An epidemic is currently affecting Texas with 500 cases since the end of January out of the 600 recorded across the country in recent weeks. Yet the disease had been considered eradicated in the USA in 2000, thanks to vaccination. But the vaccination rate has declined over the past decade in the United States, notably due to the anti-vaccine rhetoric of Robert Kennedy Jr and others. The issue has escalated further since Covid, to the extent that the disease is resurfacing. Hence, the Trumpian minister seems to be re-evaluating his stance by now urging protection against measles, as well as mumps and rubella, with the MMR vaccine.

(MH with Olivier Duquesne – Sources: Huffington Post & Le Soir – Picture: © picture alliance / Chicago Tribune | Antonio Perez)