That Time the Texas Dept of State Health Services Fact Checked Propaganda About the Death of a Child With Measles

Don't they have enough to do without debunking anti-vaccine propaganda?

With the death of a child with measles, anti-vaccine influencers went into overdrive to try and find a reason for why the child died.

For them, it isn’t enough that the child had measles, as they believe measles is mild and something that is actually good for kids!

The best remedy for confusion is to stop listening to anti-vaccine propaganda! Remember, these folks make a lot of money pushing this kind of misinformation and scared parents who listen, are the ones who, literally, pay the price.

So instead of simply believing that a child could have died with measles, they made up stories about the child having RSV.

Peter McCullough is just asking questions, right? A measles party?!? The only thing he gets right is that “measles deaths should be almost unheard of in the modern era,” at least they should be if folks would get vaccinated and protected!

Or that the child was immunocompromised.

Apparently anti-vaccine influencers get the same list of talking points to launder across their social media accounts…

Or that the child was given an MMR shot after being diagnosed with measles.

“There has been one fatality in a school-aged child who lived in the outbreak area. The child was not vaccinated and had no known underlying conditions.”

Texas Department of State Health Services - Measles Outbreak – March 4, 2025

Not surprisingly, none of those things were true.

The child who died was unvaccinated and previously healthy.

But how can a child with no underlying health conditions die with measles?

Because measles is a serious, life-threatening disease!

It is why the great majority of us vaccinate and protect our kids, so that they don’t get measles.

Unfortunately, getting fact checked by public health experts won’t stop these folks…

Are you going to believe Brian Tyson’s anonymous source, especially since he is pushing misinformation about measles being ‘very treatable?’ What kind of doctor is he?!? What about treatment with vitamin A? While recommended, that simply keeps you from having even worse symptoms, but it doesn’t prevent severe measles or death. There is no treatment or cure for measles.

They have already moved on to new conspiracy theories!

Don’t believe them.

This child died because they weren’t vaccinated and had measles.

That’s it.

If these folks really want to do some investigating, maybe they can figure out which anti-vaccine influencer scared the child’s parents away from getting them vaccinated and protected. That is what is truly unacceptable!!

References

Texas Department of State Health Services. Measles Outbreak – March 4, 2025. https://www.dshs.texas.gov/news-alerts/measles-outbreak-march-4-2025

Call to Action. Vitamin A for the Management of Measles in the United States. https://www.nfid.org/resource/vitamin-a-for-the-management-of-measles-in-the-us/