(Reuters) -The Texas health department reported 223 measles cases in the state on Tuesday, an increase of 25 cases from March 7, nearly two weeks after an unvaccinated child died of the disease amid one of the largest outbreaks the U.S. has witnessed in a decade.
As of March 11, cases reported in Gaines County, the center of the outbreak, increased to 156 from 137 on March 7, the Texas Department of State Health Services said.
Hospitalizations in the state rose to 29 from 23 compared to the March 7 count, the agency said.
In its first health alert on the measles outbreak this year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told physicians last week that the risk for widespread measles in the United States remained low due to robust immunization and surveillance programs and the country’s outbreak response capacity.
The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine remained the most important tool for preventing measles, the agency said, adding that all U.S. residents born after 1957 should have either been vaccinated against or developed immunity from lab confirmation of the disease.
(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Pooja Desai)
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