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The death of a child who was not vaccinated, with measles in Texas, USA, is making the alarms sound, and lead to a race to vaccination.
He was The first death by measles in the US since 2015according to the newspaper. “The school -age child was not vaccinated” and “tested positive measles,” said Texas’s health department, quoted by the newspaper.
For now, there are no more records of deaths associated with measles outbreak which has been at least 124 cases in the Texas region since late January, affecting, mostly, children and young people between 5 and 17.
Of these, 18 cases needed hospitalization and Only five of the affected were vaccinated Against, affect the newspaper.
O measles is highly contagious And it is feared that there are new cases not yet detected. Infected in other neighboring states, they have already been registered.
Some schools closed due to the appearance of sick students. And the authorities are advising educational establishments Keep the children not vaccinated at home For at least 21 days, so as not to risk being infected.
Death drives race to vaccines
The US, and the world in general, live a wave that is expanding, much due to fake news on the subject. The new director of the US Department of Health ,,, He wrongly blamed vaccines for autismpointing out conspiracy theories denied by various scientific studies.
But Texas Public Health Director, Katherine Wells, note that There are already parents to “recalculate” the route and “to present itself to vaccination,” according to statements to.
In Lubbock, the city in the northwest of Texas where the unaccfpeable child died, a vaccination campaign against the measles that is having a strong adhesion.
In scientific terms, it is considered that at least 95% of people They need to be vaccinated against measles so that there is a group immunity.
The city of Gaines, where there is the largest measles outbreak, has “one of the lowest children’s vaccination rates From Texas ”, according to Scientific American.
Local politicians have promoted several measures that aim to limit vaccination.
“This is the tip of the iceberg”
The great fear at this time is that the measles outbreak becomes more serious.
The Director of Strategy at The Immunization Partnership in Houston, a non -profit organization that advocates access to vaccines, believes that “this is the tip of the iceberg,” as statements to Scientific American. Rekha Lakshmanan predicts that “This will get worse much before improving”.
Some parents may not even be bringing their children to the doctor in situations of unusual symptoms. Therefore, there may be unin -signal cases that continue to infect other people.
“The infected may propagate the disease before they have symptoms“, Explains Scientific American, stressing that the virus can be“ transported by the air ”, and that“ it can remain up to two hours in closed environments ”.
What is measles and how is it convened?
O is a disease caused by virus measles morbillivirusand is highly contagious.
The first symptoms of the disease include high fever, cough, nasal discharge and inflamed eyes. But then small white points appear inside the mouth – the so -called “Sinais de Koplik”.
Then a red rash on the skin that usually starts on the face, spreading over the rest of the body.
The disease is transmitted by air through the cough and from sneezing of an infected person, or for contact with nasal or saliva secretions.
Many of the measles -affected people can completely recover from the disease. But in some cases, they may arise bass complicationssuch as pneumonia, encephalitis (brain inflammation) and ear infections, which can even cause deathespecially in children and people with weakened immune systems.
“One in 10 children develops otitis who can lead to permanent hearing loss and about 1 in 1,000 children dies of breathing and neurological problems“, Points the American Scientific about measles.
Vaccination is the main measure of measles prevention.
