A child’s death this past week in Texas is the first U.S. death from measles, a highly contagious but preventable respiratory disease since 2015, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease

People considering becoming pregnant should get their measles, chicken pox and rubella antibodies checked before conception.

When the local hospital warned of a brewing measles outbreak, Kaleigh Brantner urged fellow residents of this rural West Texas community to beware of vaccinating their children. Two weeks later, her unvaccinated 7-year-old son came home from school with a fever.