A measles outbreak is growing in a rural region of West Texas, where vaccination rates are still well below the recommended level.
Measles sickened two children in Gaines County in late January. The state health department issued a health alert on Wednesday saying that the number of confirmed cases had reached six.
As of Friday afternoon, the outbreak had grown to 14 confirmed cases and six probable cases among symptomatic individuals with close contact to infected individuals, Zach Holbrooks, executive director of the South Plains Public Health District, said.
The investigations continue, cases have been confirmed in areas of the region beyond Gaines County, where the first infections were reported.
Most cases are occurring in children, and Holbrooks said all cases are thought to be in unvaccinated individuals.
Over 125,000 new schoolchildren in the United States were not covered for at least one vaccination critical to the states they are entering based on exemptions to mandatory vaccinations, U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data released in October showed, reflecting a record number of kindergartners who received exemptions.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services set a target — the two-dose measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine for at least 95 percent of kindergartners — that must be reached to shut down outbreaks of the extremely contagious disease.
But the U.S. hasn’t achieved that target across four consecutive years.
MMR coverage rates were particularly low in Gaines County, home to about 20% of its incoming kindergartners in the 2023-24 school year who were unvaccinated.
The county has an 18 percent vaccination-exemption rate, which is among the highest in Texas, according to data from the Texas Department of State Health Services.
At the state level, Idaho had the highest rate of vaccine exemptions in the nation, with more than 14 percent of new kindergarten students not receiving required shots in the past school year, CDC data shows. Across Texas, the overall rate of exemption was about 4%, somewhat higher than the national average.
Measles is spread through the air and can cause serious health complications, including death, especially in young children and in those who are not vaccinated.
Symptoms in general include fever, cough, runny nose, watery eyes and a rash of red spots. And about one in five people in the United States who are unvaccinated and come down with measles will need to be hospitalized, according to the C.D.C. Roughly 1 in 20 children will develop pneumonia, and others may experience encephalitis, a potentially deadly swelling of the brain. It is estimated that as many as 3 in 1,000 infected children die from respiratory or neurological complications.
In its health alert posted Wednesday, the Texas health department said that other cases were “likely to occur in Gaines County and the surrounding communities” because the virus is highly contagious.
To prevent the spread of measles, health officials are encouraging residents of Gaines County to boost their immunity by getting up to date on vaccines. Unvaccinated children and adults should get one dose right away, then a second dose 28 days later. Infants aged 6 to 11 months should get an early dose of the vaccine, and children already eligible who got their first shot should get a second dose as soon as possible.
A measles clinic began Thursday, Holbrooks said, and daily testing and vaccinations will also be provided starting next week.
