(Reuters) – The Texas health department reported 663 cases of measles in the state on Tuesday, an increase of 17 cases since April 25, as the U.S. battles one of its worst outbreaks of the childhood disease.
Cases in Gaines County, the center of the outbreak, rose to 396, three more from its last update on Friday, the Texas Department of State Health Services said.
Eighty-seven patients have been hospitalized, the agency said.
Researchers have warned that the country is at a tipping point for the return of endemic measles, a quarter century after the disease was declared eradicated in the country.
U.S. pediatricians and infectious disease experts say the fight against rising measles cases nationwide is being hampered by a lack of forceful advocacy for vaccination from government health officials and statements on unproven treatments that are confusing parents.
(Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)
