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A child who was not vaccinated has died from measles in West Texas, the first death in an outbreak that began late last month and the first from measles in the U.S. since 2015.

The death was a “school-aged child who was not vaccinated” and had been hospitalized last week, the Texas Department of State Health Services said Wednesday in a statement. Lubbock health officials also confirmed the death, but neither agency provided more details. A news conference is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office.

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[-] Malfeasant@lemm.ee 18 points 1 day ago

Yeah, but at least he didn't have autism!

[-] NoxAstrum@lemmy.ca 28 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Not so loud about their beliefs when they backfire, eh?

I hope this kid's parents suffer terribly. This child depended on them to keep it alive, literally the most fundamental part of being a parent, and they failed miserably. It's the worst form of betrayal: the kind that costs lives. I wonder what Jesus would have to say about that?

[-] abigscaryhobo@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

I don't wish suffering on them. Their child is dead. They're suffering enough. They're likely to just hold stronger to whatever beliefs they have and blame whatever bs reason they can think of.

I hope they learn. They learn that there are truths and things in this world that are real, and everything isn't some messed up conspiracy theory. That you can challenge others beliefs as long as you also challenge your own.

The fact that their choice to not vaccinate contributed directly to their child's death is a hard pill to swallow, but let's hope they swallow it all the same.

[-] eestileib 4 points 16 hours ago

Not a chance.

They'll find a convenient scapegoat (probably trans people) and dig in deeper.

[-] HalfSalesman@lemm.ee 6 points 1 day ago

You legitimately have too much patience.

In so far that anyone can deserve to suffer, these pieces of shit do.

[-] Treczoks@lemmy.world 40 points 1 day ago

Sorry for the kid. Maybe the parents will also learn the legal side of "criminal neglect". They simply murdered their own child.

[-] DNS@discuss.online 5 points 23 hours ago

They didn't murder they own kid, it was God simply telling them it was their kid's time to go. I mean that with 100% sarcasm, but there are people out there who believe just that.

[-] Treczoks@lemmy.world 2 points 17 hours ago

but there are people out there who believe just that.

That is the sad part.

[-] mok0@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

These morons think God's will controls everything, apparently it didn't occur to them that God also intended for humans to create vaccines.

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[-] arc@lemm.ee 4 points 1 day ago

The chances of America charging these parents is zero. And this poor kid is just a herald of of things to come - people dying of preventable, contagious diseases because morons and kooks think vaccines are some kind of left wing conspiracy.

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How's all that winning working out for Texas?

[-] jaggedrobotpubes@lemmy.world 25 points 1 day ago

If the child could medically get vaccinated, the parents murdered their own kid. You don't get to be a parent and get something like vaccines wrong.

[-] aesthelete@lemmy.world 73 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

We did it, America! From the brink of eradication all the way to killing children in Texas in around a decade! We're number one! We're number one!

[-] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 18 points 1 day ago

I swear I might actually punch someone if I hear them talking about kids dying "with" measles vs. "from".

[-] aesthelete@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I think that word substitution is a necessary part of the logic of the people who see people other than themselves as inherently less than them and deserving of suffering if their health would cause them even the slightest inconvenience...for lack of a better word I'll call these people "the cullers".

The cullers see the deaths that occur from disease as just being "nature taking its course". It's only a small step from "healthy people don't die of this" to "they deserved their deaths because they're weak" and then a slightly larger jump to the even more horrifying "we should kill off the weak on purpose in the name of efficiency".

[-] Hudell@lemmy.dbzer0.com 31 points 1 day ago

Meanwhile RFK Jr. is like "It's one child Michael, what could it cost? 10 dollars? "

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[-] SpikedPunchVictim@lemmy.world 50 points 1 day ago

At least they didn't get autism.

[-] 100_kg_90_de_belin@feddit.it 2 points 1 day ago

It's kinda hard to maintain eye contact when you're dead, though

[-] SPRUNT@lemmy.world 21 points 1 day ago

What a fantastic thing for the parents to experience! I love that they will have to live with the fact that their child is dead of a completely preventable disease purely because of their own decisions.

[-] Glitterbomb@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

These are Mennonites. Preventing gods gifts of disease is the devils work.

[-] 100_kg_90_de_belin@feddit.it 4 points 1 day ago

My late father used to smoke at least a pack a day. He did that for almost fifty years. When he was diagnosed with incurable lung cancer he said, and I quote: "We'll never know why I got this".

People can be really good at dodging responsibility even in the face of overwhelming evidence.

[-] TheCelticPirate@lemmy.world 201 points 1 day ago

That poor kid. Easily preventable if they didn't have stupid parents. At what point can we hold the parents accountable?

[-] HikingVet@lemmy.ca 93 points 1 day ago

In a sane system, at this point.

[-] ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org 68 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

When the parents are irresponsible, most other nations step in and make the responsible choice for their children in their place, whether the dumb parents like it or not.

But in the US, the state is even more irresponsible than the parents.

What a sad, sad country it has become...

[-] anomnom@sh.itjust.works 1 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

Not everywhere in the us, but Texas, where this is happening currently, seems especially bad, at least in counties outside Dallas and Houston area.

This could easily happen in parts of SoCal or anywhere with big Mennonite or Amish cults too.

[-] Jumpingspiderman@lemmy.world 32 points 1 day ago

When can we hold Bobby Brainworms accountable?

[-] harrys_balzac@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 1 day ago

bUt MaH rELeeJun!

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[-] hperrin@lemmy.ca 107 points 1 day ago

That child died because their parents are fucking morons. They should be held accountable.

[-] NatakuNox@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago

Yup. Or if you don't vacate yourself or your children you shouldn't be allowed to travel, go to events, and you get medical care in a tent outside

[-] Drusas@fedia.io 15 points 1 day ago

As a person with a weakened immune system, I am totally with you on that.

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[-] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 83 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Queue the childs parents: If only we'd known how dangerous measles was we'd have gotten our child vaccinated!

[-] kibiz0r@midwest.social 35 points 1 day ago

If only this country could’ve been founded by people who knew the heartbreak of losing a child to a preventable disease.

In 1736, I lost one of my sons, a fine boy of four years old, by the small-pox, taken in the common way. I long regretted bitterly, and still regret that I had not given it to him by inoculation. This I mention for the sake of parents who omit that operation, on the supposition that they should never forgive themselves if the child died under it: my example showing that the regret may be the same either way, and that, therefore, the safer should be chosen. -Benjamin Franklin

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[-] MuskyMelon@lemmy.world 39 points 1 day ago

Nah, they'll wish there was a way to protect their child from dangerous childhood diseases and that the fascist medical system failed them.

[-] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 50 points 1 day ago

Ah, also another classic.

A big storm approaches. The weatherman urges everyone to get out of town. The priest says, "I won't worry, God will save me".

The morning of the storm, the police go through the neighborhood with a sound truck telling everyone to evacuate. The priest says "I won't worry, God will save me".

The storm drains back up and there is an inch of water standing in the street. A fire truck comes by to pick up the priest. He tells them "Don't worry, God will save me."

The water rises another foot. A National Guard truck comes by to rescue the priest. He tells them "Don't worry, God will save me."

The water rises some more. The priest is forced up to his roof. A boat comes by to rescue the priest. He tells them "Don't worry, God will save me."

The water rises higher. The priest is forced up to the very top of his roof. A helicopter comes to rescue the priest. He shouts up at them "Don't worry, God will save me."

The water rises above his house, and the priest drowns.

When he gets up to heaven he says to God "I've been your faithful servant ever since I was born! Why didn't you save me?"

God replies "First I sent you a fire truck, then the national guard, then a boat, and then a helicopter. What more do you want from me!!??

[-] IamSparticles@lemmy.zip 11 points 1 day ago

I've been urging my wife to use this parable on her elderly parents who keep refusing our help. They sold their house about 20 years ago and used the money to buy an RV so they could travel around the US... while they waited for the rapture to take them up to heaven.

They blew all their retirement savings and now they're living in a trailer park trying to deal with a multitude of medical issues for which they don't have insurance. Because they never expected to live this long. And they keep saying they're waiting for god to send them a solution to their problems.

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[-] amon@lemmy.world 18 points 1 day ago

That is literally Noah's ark from the POV no one talks about

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[-] DarkFuture@lemmy.world 53 points 1 day ago
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[-] The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world 63 points 1 day ago

The danger of a measles outbreak is especially scary if you have a baby, because they can't even get this vaccination until 12 months old. Similar if you're immunocompromised, I'm sure.

This is why herd immunity is so important.

[-] Birch@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago

Does this qualify for a Darwin Award?

[-] Padit@feddit.org 25 points 1 day ago

No, because the child most likely didn't make the decision to stay unvaccinated for themselves.

This is just flat-out murder.

[-] demizerone@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

The idiots parents definitely at fault. Poor child.

[-] danekrae@lemmy.world 56 points 1 day ago

Hopefully the poor parents can find some comfort in the fact, that at least the child wasn't infected with autism...

[-] normalexit@lemmy.world 42 points 1 day ago

This is really sad for an easily preventable disease. Below the fold, they mention this (which a lot of people won't see without reading the article)

The outbreak is largely spreading in the Mennonite community in West Texas, where small towns are separated by vast stretches of oil rig-dotted open land but connected due to people traveling between towns for work, church, grocery shopping and other errands.

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[-] Punchshark@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 day ago

But the ticket, take the ride!

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[-] Kyrgizion@lemmy.world 30 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Hope the parents' lives are completely ruined now. But they're probably already busy on the replacement. That's what they want to bring back: a world where a woman has to carry 18 pregnancies to term in hopes of having one or two that survive to adulthood. Good times.

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[-] CompleteUnknown@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

How do you die from measles? I mean what actually causes death? Is it pneumonia?

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this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2025
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