Unvaccinated Kid Sadly Dies of Measles in Texas

An unvaccinated child died of measles in West Texas, officials said Wednesday, marking the first death in an ongoing outbreak of the highly contagious respiratory illness. The child was one of 124 confirmed cases in this vaccine-preventable outbreak. Eighteen others have been hospitalized. The loss is a tragedy; the measles vaccine is 97 percent effective in preventing disease.

“It is no coincidence in my mind that [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] gets confirmed to be secretary of [the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)], and immediately we have a measles outbreak,” said Polly Tommey in an interview with NBC News. Tommey is the programming director of Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccination advocacy group founded by RFK Jr. Tommey believes that the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine caused her son’s autism.

Indeed, Tommey could be right; it is perhaps no coincidence. After all, the already vaccine-hesitant parents of the infected kids in Texas live in a culture influenced by RFK Jr.’s long and sordid history of kooky and dangerous anti-vaccination agitation.

Also coinciding with the measles outbreak is the HHS’ postponement last week of the regularly scheduled meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). The meeting was allegedly canceled to solicit further public comment on the ACIP’s upcoming agenda. Composed largely of academic researchers and physicians, the committee was supposed to consider the risks and benefits of vaccines for meningitis, chikungunya, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human papillomavirus (HPV), mpox, and COVID-19.

As the Partnership to Fight Infectious Disease points out in its open letter to Kennedy urging that the ACIP meeting be rescheduled as soon as possible:

Each ACIP meeting holds tremendous weight and relevance. Infectious diseases are constantly evolving opponents; vaccines are among the best tools for constantly adapting and responding to the latest public health threats. ACIP meetings, which review the latest vaccination data, vote on recommendations, and produce public transparency via a live video stream, three times a year, are the exact activities in which a thoughtful, transparent and well-organized scientific community engages.

Politico reports that Kennedy, citing largely specious conflict-of-interest concerns, plans to seed the vaccine committee with folks more to his liking.

During the Senate confirmation hearings, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R–La.) asked Kennedy, “Does a 70-year-old man, 71-year-old man, who spent decades criticizing vaccines and who’s financially vested in finding fault with vaccines, can he change his attitudes and approach now that he’ll have the most important position influencing vaccine policy in the United States?”

The early portents suggest not.

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