The number of people with measles in Texas increased to 146 in an outbreak that led this week to the death of an unvaccinated school-aged child, health officials said Friday. The number of cases — Texas’ largest in nearly 30 years — increased by 22 since Tuesday.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday upheld the role of vaccines in offering protection against measles after an unvaccinated child succumbed to the infection earlier this week.

Texas authorities on Wednesday announced the first measles death in the state's outbreak of the highly contagious disease. The death, of a school-age child, is the first measles death in the U.S. since 2015,