(Reuters) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday upheld the role of vaccines in offering protection against measles after an unvaccinated child succumbed to the infection earlier this week.
The U.S. reported its first fatality from the highly contagious disease in a decade amid a growing outbreak with more than 130 cases reported in Texas and neighboring New Mexico.
The child’s death and hospitalization of nearly 20 others have put U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s vaccine views to the test.
Kennedy, who founded the anti-vaccine group Children’s Health Defense, has for years sown doubt about the safety and efficacy of immunization. He, however, has denied being “anti-vaccine” and has said he would not prevent Americans from getting vaccinated.
Of the 93 recorded measles cases, as of February 20, over 95% were from unvaccinated people, while 4% were from people who received only one of the two required shots for immunity, CDC data showed.
(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
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