Second Death From Measles Reported in Unvaccinated Adult in New Mexico

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Amid the current outbreak of measles centered in counties along the Texas/New Mexico border, the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) is reporting the death of an unvaccinated adult who tested positive for measles. The decedent was a resident of Lea County, New Mexico.

This death marks the second fatality in the growing outbreak, coming on the heels of the death of an unvaccinated school-aged child who died on Feb. 26 in a hospital in Lubbock, Texas.

The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator is still looking into the official cause of death; however, the presence of the measles virus has been confirmed by the NMDOH Scientific Laboratory. The individual did not seek medical care before their death.

“We don’t want to see New Mexicans getting sick or dying from measles,” Chad Smelser, M.D., NMDOH deputy state epidemiologist, said in a news release. “The measles-mumps-rubella vaccine is the best protection against this serious disease.”

To support community protection, NMDOH has scheduled free measles vaccination clinics in Lea County on Tuesday, March 11.

As of March 6, the total number of cases in the measles outbreak in New Mexico is 30. All infections reported have been in residents of Lea County, with 11 children under the age of 17 years and 15 adults affected; the age of four cases is pending.

For the measles outbreak in Gaines County and the surrounding communities in the state of Texas, 198 individuals, including at least 153 children and 34 adults, have been infected as of March 7.

More Information

Source: HealthDay

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