Health Officials Report Doubling Of Measles Cases In Texas

Public health officials reported on Friday that 48 cases of measles now have been identified in the South Plains region of Texas. This is a significant increase from the 24 cases reported on Tuesday, indicating a rapidly evolving situation. Forty-two of the cases have been reported in Gaines County. Additional cases have occurred in Lynn, Terry, and Yoakum Counties. The New Mexico health department has reported one case in Lea County, which is across the border from Gaines County.

In Texas, 13 of the cases are in infants under the age of five. Twenty-nine cases are in young people between the ages of five and 17. Five cases have been reported in adults and the age of one person has not been reported. According to officials from the Texas Department of State Health Services, all the infected individuals were unvaccinated, or their vaccination status was unknown. Thirteen of the infected individuals have been hospitalized.

Measles is a vaccine-preventable disease. The vaccine, typically administered in combination with the mumps and rubella vaccines, consists of a weakened, or attenuated, form of the measles virus. The recommended two-dose series is 97% effective at preventing infection. Indeed, in the US, the number of reported cases of measles dropped dramatically after the vaccine was approved for use.

The MMR vaccine also is very safe. Most common side effects include a mild fever, soreness at the injection site, and a rash, according to the CDC. Very rarely, individuals experience a febrile seizure after receiving the vaccine, but such seizures are not linked to any long-term consequences. And no scientific studies have shown any link between the MMR vaccine and autism.

Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000; continuous spread of the virus no longer occurs. But elimination does not mean eradication. Periodic cases of measles still occur in the United States, almost always among unvaccinated people. Unfortunately, the number of unvaccinated people has been increasing. As a result, more cases of measles are occurring. In an outbreak in Ohio in 2022, for example, 85 cases were reported. At least 84 of those people were unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated.

The vaccination rates among schoolchildren in Gaines County are especially troubling. According to data provided by the Texas Department of State Health Services, only about 82% of kindergartners in Gaines County have received the recommended measles vaccines. This is dramatically below the state average of nearly 94%. Because measles is so easily transmitted, epidemiologists generally agree that herd immunity will only occur if around 95% of the population is vaccinated.

What is driving these low levels of vaccination? The number of parents requesting conscientious exemptions from school vaccination requirements has increased significantly. In Gaines County, 13.6% of families requested exemptions during the 2023-2024 school year. A decade earlier, that number was only 4.3%.

Vaccine hesitancy also is a major contributor to this change. A recent survey conducted by KFF showed that the percentage of parents who thought children should be required to get the MMR vaccine to attend school decreased from 82% in 2019 to 71% in 2022. Among survey respondents, 28% thought that parents should be able to decide if their children should be vaccinated.

The positive impact of vaccines has been remarkable. Smallpox has been completely eradicated. Cases of diseases like measles and polio have dropped dramatically. And the COVID-19 vaccines most likely saved millions of lives throughout the world. Increasing misinformation about vaccine safety and efficacy, however, imperils those successes. With more people forgoing these vaccines, outbreaks like the one currently occurring in Texas will, unfortunately, become more common. And the results could be tragic. Indeed, during debates about the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) remarked, “I am fearful that…innocent children will die.”