A person has died of the measles in Texas, the first death from the disease in a decade in the United States.
The death, confirmed by Katherine Wells, the director of public health for Lubbock’s health department, is part of a fast-moving outbreak that’s infected at least 124 people — mostly children — in rural West Texas. The age of patient who died wasn’t clear.
The official tally of people who have been hospitalized is 18, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
That number isn’t up to date, said Dr. Lara Johnson, a pediatrician and the chief medical officer at Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock.
Johnson said in an email that her team has cared for “around 20” kids with measles so far.
All of those kids, she said, were admitted because they were having trouble breathing. None had been vaccinated against measles.