Amid the worst measles outbreak in the United States in a decade, vaccine sceptic Robert F Kennedy Jr, the Trump administration’s Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, has affirmed that vaccines protect children.

“Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons,” Kennedy wrote in an opinion piece published by Fox News on Monday.

He declared that “the decision to vaccinate is a personal one” rather than advising parents to ensure that their children are vaccinated against measles. 

He also asserted that “good nutrition remains a best defense against most chronic and infectious illnesses”.

The Texas Department of State Health Services has confirmed 146 measles cases since late January and one death of an unvaccinated child, the first measles-related death of a US child in over a decade. Seventy nine of the confirmed cases were unvaccinated while the vaccine status of 62 others is unknown.

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