Some private schools are closed due to a rapidly escalating measles outbreak in West Texas. The local health department is overstretched and has suspended other important tasks as they compete to limit the spread of this highly contagious virus.
Since the outbreak Appeared 3 weeks agothe Texas Department of Health confirmed 90 cases with 16 hospitalizations as of February 21. Most infected people are under the age of 18. Officials suspect nine additional measles cases reported in New Mexico across the border from the epicenter of the Texas outbreak. In Gaines, it is linked to the Texas outbreak. An ongoing investigation is trying to check that connection.
Health officials are worried that cases may be missing. If doctors and health officials cannot determine who is infected, undetected infections are insufficient for the community as doctors and health officials cannot contain the infection.
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“This is the tip of the iceberg,” he said. Vaccination Partnership In Houston, a nonprofit advocating for access to vaccines. “I think this will get much worse before it gets better.”
Katherine Wells, director of public health in Lubbock, Texas, said an unknown number of parents may not have taken their sick children to the clinic. “If your child reacts to fever-reducing agents and you stay hydrated, some people may leave them at home,” she said.
Most unvaccinated people will contract measles when exposed to the airborne virus. 2 hours indoor. Infected people can spread the disease before they have symptoms. Around it 1 in 5 people When measles is hospitalized, one in 10 children develop ear infections, leading to permanent hearing loss, and one in 1,000 children die from respiratory and neurological conditions. Masu.
Gaines has a large population of Mennonites and often avoids vaccinations. “We respect the right of everyone to get vaccinated or get vaccinated,” said Albert Pilkington, CEO of the Seminole Hospital District in the heart of the county, in an interview. Texas Standard. “That really means being an American, right?”
Local health officials are trying to persuade parents of unvaccinated children to protect them by taking them to pop-up clinics that offer vaccines.
“Some people on the fences thought measles wasn’t something kids could see, they’re recalculating and moving forward to vaccinating,” Wells said. Ta.
The local health department also operates mobile testing units outside of schools to detect infections before they spread. They are staffing clinics that can provide preventive care to infants exposed to the virus that are too young for vaccination. Local health officials advise daycare centres on how to protect young children and babies, and educate school nurses on how to spot signs of illness.
“I have 75% of my staff in this outbreak,” Wells said. Lubbock is not at the heart of the outbreak, but infected people seek treatment there. “If someone is infected [emergency room]you should identify everyone who was in that ER within two hours of that visit, notify them, and find out if they have been vaccinated. ”
That’s what rural local health departments do. Notoriously underfunded. Wells said the workload means pushing the press on other programs, such as those that provide substance abuse education.
Zach Holbrooks, executive director of the South Plains Public Health District, including Gaines, said health officials had adhered to CDC guidelines as of last year. Someone got infected. This means that many parents may need to stay home from work to care for their children.
“Many private schools are closed due to the large number of sick children,” Holbrooks said.
The burden of measles increases as the disease spreads. Washington State’s 2018 outbreak with 72 cases The cost is approximately $2.3 million.in addition to $76,000 in medical expenses and an estimated $1 million in financial losses from illness, quarantine and care.
Public health researchers hope that such outbreaks will become larger and more common due to many laws around the US (pending and recently passed).
Such policies are linked with misinformation about childhood vaccinations currently at the highest level of government platform. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., new director of the Department of Health and Human Services, falsely condemned the autism vaccine; Unreliable theory It is shown that it is not true Over a dozen Scientific the study.
In Kennedy’s first week at work, HHS postponed a key meeting of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Vaccination Practices, without saying when it will resume. Furthermore, CDC Letter template for school principalif you are exposed to the measles virus, there is no longer any advice on the institution’s website to stay home from school for 21 days. The old version remains Posted in the archive.
As a general rule, at least 95% of people need to be vaccinated from measles in order for their communities to be adequately protected. That threshold is high enough to protect babies too young for the vaccine, people who cannot take the vaccine for medical reasons, and those who do not develop a strong, permanent immune response to it. The number of kindergarteners last year I was exempt from the vaccine The requirements were reported more than ever before, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
At Gaines, the exemptions are much higher than the national average, approaching 20% in 2023-24. Gaines has one of the lowest childhood vaccination rates in Texas. In local public school districts in the Loop community, only 46% of kindergarten students get a vaccine to protect them from measles.
Amid the outbreak showing measles casualties in unvaccinated US pockets, Texas lawmakers could introduce about 25 bills at this year’s legislative meeting, potentially limiting vaccinations further. Laksaman said the masses Most believe in profit Measles vaccination – Representatives should be contacted about the risks of such decisions. Her group and others Provide resources to participate.
“We’re rolling up kids in the hospital, and yet we have lawmakers blindfolded,” she said. “That’s just amazing.”
KFF Health Newsformerly known as Kaiser Health News (KHN), produced detailed journalism on health issues, KFF – Independent sources of health policy research, voting and journalism.
