US AUTHORITIES CONFIRM SECOND MEASLES-RELATED DEATH OF CHILD

WASHINGTON, April 7 (Bernama-dpa) -- US health authorities on Sunday confirmed the second measles-related death of a child since the beginning of the year, German Press Agency (dpa) reported.

"The school-aged child who tested positive for measles was hospitalised in Lubbock and passed away on Thursday from what the child's doctors described as measles pulmonary failure," Texas health authorities said in a statement. 

"The child was not vaccinated and had no reported underlying conditions."

US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, a known vaccine skeptic, said he was in Texas to comfort the family of the child.

The number of measles cases has been rising in the southern United States, as Kennedy cast doubts on vaccines and suggests Vitamin A and cod liver oil to combat the highly contagious disease.

Kennedy did explain the importance of immunisation in several interviews, but also described it as a personal choice. On Sunday, he said on X that "the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine."

He has also claimed in an interview on Fox News that vaccines have side effects and can cause severe illnesses and even death – a statement that has been branded false and dangerous by leading US health experts.

In the two hardest-hit states of Texas and New Mexico, the number of cases has risen to over 500 combined, according to local authorities. The great majority of those infected had not been vaccinated.

Kennedy said more than 640 cases had been confirmed nationwide across 22 states as of Sunday.

In Texas, confirmed measles cases have risen to over 480 since January, the majority of them children. Of those infected, 56 required hospital treatment, local authorities reported. 

A school-aged child died of measles in Texas in February. At that time, there were 124 confirmed measles cases in the state.

--BERNAMA-dpa