Unvaccinated child dies of measles in west Texas as outbreak worsens

First US death reported in a decade as outbreak spreads in region where 14% of children are exempt from vaccination

The unfolding crisis over the spread of measles in the US among communities where skepticism towards vaccines is running high has taken a turn for the worse after a person who was hospitalized with the disease died in west Texas, the first fatality in the outbreak that began late last month.

A Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center spokesperson, Melissa Whitfield, confirmed the death on Wednesday. It is the first death from measles in the US since 2015.