A school-age child in Los Angeles has died of a rare complication from measles, years after being infected with the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Los Angeles County health department announced the death Thursday, part of a warning to residents about the importance of getting vaccinated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The department said the child got measles as an infant before they were eligible for their first measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) shot. The first dose should be given to babies at 12 to 15 months, followed by a second at 4 to 6 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The child recovered, but years later developed a rare, progressive brain disorder known as subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), the department said. The condition can occur in people who had measles early in life, usually around 2 to 10 years after the initial infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis case is a painful reminder of how dangerous measles can be, especially for our most vulnerable community members,\u201d Dr. Muntu Davis, the Los Angeles County health officer, said in a news release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVaccination is not just about protecting yourself \u2014 it\u2019s about protecting your family, your neighbors, and especially children who are too young to be vaccinated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About 1 in 10,000 people with measles later develop SSPE \u2014 but among those who are infected as infants, the risk is around 1 in 600, according to the Los Angeles health department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The condition affects the central nervous system, so people may experience seizures or lose the ability to walk before falling into a coma or vegetative state. There is no known cure or effective treatment for the disorder, and most patients die within one to three years of diagnosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nationally, measles vaccination rates have dipped in recent years. Less than 93% of kindergartners in the United States received the recommended two doses during the 2023-24 school year (a rate of 95% is generally needed to curb the spread).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year marked the worst outbreak since the U.S. eliminated the disease in 2000. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded 1,454 cases since the start of the year, surpassing a previous record in 2019 driven by an outbreak in Orthodox Jewish communities in New York with low vaccination rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year\u2019s high case count was largely fueled by an outbreak in a Mennonite community in West Texas, which also has low vaccination rates. Two unvaccinated children in the community died of measles earlier in the year, as did an unvaccinated adult in New Mexico, marking the country\u2019s first measles deaths in a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Texas health department declared an end to the West Texas outbreak in mid-August, and weekly cases in the U.S. have generally declined since then. However, there are still ongoing outbreaks \u2014 including one at a Utah high school event \u2014 making measles a persistent threat to unvaccinated people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two shots of the MMR vaccine are 97% effective against measles and typically offer lifelong protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Public health experts say the challenge of getting measles under control this year has been compounded by misinformation from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Though Kennedy has called for people to get the MMR vaccine, he has falsely claimed that immunity from the vaccine wanes quickly, framed vaccination as a personal choice and emphasized unproven measles treatments such as steroids or antibiotics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kennedy also played up the role of vitamin A during the Texas outbreak, even though it\u2019s not a treatment for the disease and it\u2019s unclear how beneficial it is for patients outside of developing countries, where vitamin A deficiencies are common. Too much of it can also be harmful: Physicians in West Texas reported earlier this year that some unvaccinated patients showed signs of liver damage from taking vitamin A in excess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n