Second US child dies of measles

A MEASLES outbreak has killed a second child in the south-eastern US, authorities said, with almost 60 others now infected as the highly contagious disease spreads.

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“We are deeply saddened to report that a school-aged child who was recently diagnosed with measles has passed away from complications, ”Venessia Brown, vice-president of UMC Health System, a medical center in Texas, said.

“The child had been receiving treatment for the complications of measles” in hospital, he said, adding they were “not vaccinated against measles and had underlying health conditions.”

As the US grapples with its worst measles outbreak in years, President Donald Trump’s health secretary, Rob-ert Kennedy Jr, has alarmed health experts with his rhetoric down-playing the importance of vaccines.