Parents rush to vaccinate kids as measles spreads in Texas

Five-year-old Shado is one of dozens of children being rushed to a health centre in the US state of Texas to get the measles vaccine, after the recent death in the area of a child who was not immunised against the highly contagious virus.

- Agence France-Presse

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"Look at you, you're so brave," the nurse administering the shot tells the young girl, who is sitting on her father's lap.

The death came as immunisation rates have declined nationwide, with the latest cases in the west Texas town of Lubbock concentrated in a Mennonite religious community that has historically shown vaccine hesitancy. Mark Medina brought his children, Shado and her brother Azazel, after they heard about that death.

"It kind of sparked fear and we're like, 'Alright, it's time to go get vaccinated. Let's go," the 31-year-old father told AFP.