Second child dies from US measles outbreak

A second child has died of measles in the United States, the victim of an outbreak of the highly contagious disease in Texas (south), whose handling by the Minister of Health is being criticized. The child died Thursday in a hospital in Lubbock, in northwest Texas, from a "pulmonary failure due to measles", state health officials announced in a statement. They said the child had not been vaccinated against measles and had no known health problems. Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. (RFK, nephew of the president assassinated in 1963) went to the scene to " comfort the family" after the death of the child, an 8-year-old girl, he said on X on Sunday.

Measles "is not something new", explains Trump

This death comes as more than 600 cases of measles have been reported this year in the United States, including nearly 500 in Texas since late January. The first unvaccinated child had already died in Lubbock in late February, the first death linked to this disease in nearly ten years in the United States. Authorities in the neighboring southwestern state of New Mexico also announced in early March that the measles virus had been detected in an unvaccinated patient after his death, but the cause of his death remains under investigation.

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Questioned by journalists aboard the presidential plane Air Force One, Donald Trump appeared to downplay the epidemic on Sunday evening, referring to "a relatively small number of people affected so far".

Measles "is not something new", he added, while promising to "react very strongly" if the epidemic were to progress. While measles was declared eradicated in the United States in 2000 thanks to vaccination, infections have started to rise again in recent years, thanks to the decline in vaccination rates recorded since the Covid-19 pandemic.

RFK Jr.'s Fluctuations

Robert Kennedy Jr.'s handling of the epidemic has come under fire from health professionals, who accuse him of downplaying the seriousness of the situation and criticize him for his vaccine-sceptic stance. The man who previously defended the theory—refuted many times—of the link between the mandatory MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine and autism appeared to be revising his position on the subject. He stated on Sunday on X that "The MMR vaccine is the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles."While continuing to fuel doubts about them, he had already recalled at the beginning of March that the vaccines did not protect "not only children against measles, but also contributed to everyone's immunity".

RFK Jr. had also acknowledged in early March that the situation was " severe ", after initially stating that there was "measles epidemics every year"Measles is a highly contagious disease that spreads through respiratory droplets and remains in the air for up to two hours after the infected person leaves the home. The disease causes fever, respiratory symptoms, and a rash, but it can also lead to serious complications, including pneumonia, brain inflammation, and death.