Americans are growing more concerned about the preventable virus as cases continue to rise in rural West Texas.

Measles can cause seizures, blindness and death, and children under the age of 5 are particularly vulnerable to complications.

The virus was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000. A measles outbreak infecting patients in Texas and New Mexico has turned deadly. An unvaccinated school-aged child died of the virus,

Measles was thought to be eliminated two decades ago. But growing mistrust in vaccines has changed that, and now some people may need booster shots for protection.

The majority of the 124 measles cases reported in Texas this year have been in children between five and 17. The first death in an ongoing measles outbreak has been reported in Texas. The Texas Department of State Health Services announced the death of a school-aged child on Wednesday morning.

The U.S. registered its first death from measles since 2015 this week, as a child who wasn’t vaccinated died in a measles outbreak in Texas.

Vaccine hesitancy has been rising for years in the United States. Doctors and parents in one rural county are confronting the consequences.

Measles was considered to be eliminted in the U.S. in 2000, thanks to vaccine developments. But vaccination rates have dropped since the covid pandemic began.