An unprecedented person who died in New Mexico has tried positively for measles, state health officials said on Thursday, possibly the second such death in a growing outburst that began in western Texas.
Officials have not yet confirmed that measles was the cause of death and said the person did not seek medical care before dying.
The announcement came just more than a week after a child who died of measles in Gaines County, Texas, the first such death in the United States in 10 years.
Ten cases of measles, six adults and four children have been reported in the County of Lea, NM, which borders the Gaines County, the focus of the Western Texas epidemic.
This epidemic has been a trial by the fire of the new Minister of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent vaccine. His controversial response has caused harsh criticism from scientists, who say he has provided implied support for vaccination and underlined the unsafe -tested measles such as the liver of the garde.
Instead of benefiting widely for the safety and efficiency of vaccines, as HHS secretaries did, Mr Kennedy said vaccines were helping to protect against measles, but that the decision to vaccinate is “personal”.
All New Mexico pockets are involved in someone who has not been vaccinated or with an unknown vaccine state. While the cases in New Mexico are not officially linked to the outburst of Texas, officials said a “suspect” link.
Since Tuesday, the measles epidemic in West Texas had been ill for almost 160 people, with 22 hospitalized.
New Mexican health officials called on residents to get the measles, mumps and reds vaccine, which experts say is the best way to protect it from illness. Two doses of the vaccine prevent more than 97 % of measles infections.
“We do not want to see the new Mexicans get sick or die of measles,” Dr. Chad Smelser, a state epidemiologist, told a press release.
The measles virus, which spreads when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes, is extremely contagious. Any infected person can spread the pathogen to another 18 others.
Within a week or two from the exhibition, those infected can develop high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. Within a few days, an exhaustive rash breaks out, first as flat, red spots on the face and then spreads under the neck and torso to the rest of the body.
In most cases, these symptoms are resolved in a few weeks. But in rare cases, the virus causes pneumonia, making it difficult for patients, especially children, to get oxygen to their lungs.
Infection can also lead to brain edema, which can cause constant damage, including blindness, deafness and mental disabilities.
For every 1,000 children taking measles, one or two will die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The virus also weakens the immune system in the long run, making its host more sensitive to future infections.
A 2015 study found that before the MMR vaccine it was widely available, the measles may have been responsible for half of all deaths from infectious diseases in children.
