The measles outbreak in Texas has quickly grown to 146 cases. One child has died. NBC News answers readers' questions about the disease, vaccines and government response.

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

Measles has been spreading across the U.S. for the last several weeks, sickening people in at least nine states amid a growing outbreak in western Texas. Several people have been hospitalized and at least one unvaccinated school-aged child in Texas has died,