RFK Jr. visits Texas after the 2nd child dies from the disease linked to measles

Secretary in the United States in matters of health and social services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited the epicenter of the still growth of Texas measles epidemic Sunday, the same day, funerals took place for a second young child who was not vaccinated and deceased from a disease -related disease.

Kennedy declared in an article on social networks that he worked to “control the epidemic” and went to County of sheaths To comfort families who buried two young children. He was seen late Sunday afternoon outside a Mennonite church where the funeral took place, but he did not attend a nearby press conference organized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the epidemic.

Seminole is the epidery of the epidemic, which started at the end of January and continues to inflate – with almost 500 cases in Texas only, as well as cases of the epidemic that would have spread to new -mexic, Oklahoma, Kansas and Mexico.

The second young child died Thursday from “what the child’s doctor described as a lung insufficiency in measles” and had no underlying health problems, the Texas Health Department said on Sunday in a press release. Aaron Davis, a spokesperson for the UMC Health System in Lubbock, said the child “received treatment for measles complications during hospitalization”.

This is the third death linked to the known measles linked to this epidemic. One was Another elementary child in Texas and the other was An adult at New Mexico; Neither was vaccinated.

This is Kennedy’s first visit to the region as a health secretary, where he said he had met families from 6 and 8 years old who died. He said he had “developed links” with the Mennonite community in western Texas in which the virus is mainly spread.

Kennedy, an anti-vaccine defender before climbing to the role of the best nation secretary of the nation earlier this year, resisted to exhort generalized vaccinations while the epidemic of measles has worsened under his watch. On Sunday, however, he declared in a long declaration published on X that it was “the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles”.

The measles vaccine, mumps and rubella is used safely for more than 60 years and is 97% effective against measles after two doses.

Dr. Manisha Patel, director of CDC incidents, said at a Sunday press conference that the ROR vaccine was the best way to protect against measles. She also told the Parents of the County Gaines that it was important not to “delay care” for a child sick with measles.

“Call your doctor and make sure you talk to a health professional who can guide you in the next steps,” said Patel.

Kennedy’s social media said that CDC employees had been “redeployed”. CDC spokesperson Jason McDonald said late Sunday that the first CDC team arrived in early March and left the county of Gaines on April 1, while a team led by Patel “was redeployed and arrived today to assess the needs” as ordered by Kennedy and asked by the Governor of Texas.

Asked about the epidemic on Sunday by journalists on Air Force One, Trump said: “They make reports on this subject”, adding that if the epidemic “progresses, we will have to act very strongly”.

Neither the CDC nor the State Health Department included death in their measles reports published on Friday, but the CDC recognized it when it was asked on Sunday.

The number of cases in Texas increased by 81 between March 28 and April 4, and 16 other people were hospitalized. Nationally, the United States has more than double the number of Case of measles He saw in 2024.

The American republican senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, A liver doctor whose vote helped confirmation from Cinch Kennedy, called on Sunday for stronger messaging of health officials In a post on x.

“Everyone should be vaccinated! There is no processing for measles. No advantage to get measles,” he wrote. “The best health officials should say it unequivocally b / 4 another child dies.”

Cassidy asked Kennedy Say before his health committee on Thursday, although Kennedy did not confirm publicly if he would attend.

A spokesperson for the CDC noted the effectiveness of the measles vaccine on Sunday, but has stopped calling people to get it. Starting longtime messages of public health around vaccination, the spokesman qualified the decision as “personal” and encouraged people to speak with their doctor. People “must be informed of the risks and potential advantages associated with vaccines,” added the spokesperson.

The disinformation of how to prevent and treat measles obstructs a solid response in public health, including the statements concerning supplements of vitamin A which were pushed by supporters of Kennedy and holistic medicine despite the warnings of the doctors that it should be given by the orders of a doctor and that too can be dangerous.

Doctors at the Children’s Hospital of Covenant de Lubbock, where the first death of measles occurred, say they have treated less than 10 children for liver problems of the toxicity of vitamin A, which they have found when they carry out routine laboratory tests on children who are not fully vaccinated and have measles. Dr. Lara Johnson, chief doctor, said that patients said they used vitamin A to treat and prevent the virus.

Dr Peter Marks, former vaccine chief of the Food and Drug Administrationsaid that death is responsible for Kennedy and its staff. Marks was forced to leave the FDA after disagreements with Kennedy on vaccine safety.

“It is the quintessence of an unnecessary absolute death,” Marks told the Associated Press in an interview on Sunday. “These children should be vaccinated – this is how you prevent people from dying measles.”

Marks also said that he had recently warned American senators that more deaths would take place if the administration did not increase a more aggressive response to the epidemic.

Local experts and managers expect the epidemic to continue Several more months Otherwise a year. In western Texas, the vast majority of cases are people and non -vaccinated children under the age of 17.

With several states faced with epidemics of preventable vaccination disease – and downwards in the national vaccination rates nationally – some fear that measles can cost its status as having eliminated the disease.

Measles is a respiratory virus that can survive in the air up to two hours. Up to 9 out of 10 people likely will obtain the virus if they are exposed, According to the CDC. The first blow is recommended for children aged 12 to 15 months and the second for 4 to 6 year olds.

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Seitz reported to Washington. The photojournalist Annie Rice in Seminole, Texas, and the journalist from AP Matthew Perrone in Washington contributed to this report.

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