Posted on 02/18/2025 12:05:32 PM PST by nickcarraway
Health officials in Gaines County, Texas have confirmed that the number of people identified with measles is now up to two dozen, and all of the confirmed cases involve unvaccinated residents, reports CBS News. Nine patients have been hospitalized.
Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician and senior scholar at Johns Hopkins, said the outbreak was “completely preventable.”
Studies have found that vaccines are 97% effective at preventing measles infection.
ORIGINAL FEBRUARY 12, 2025 POST:
Officials in Western Texas and Atlanta are warning of measles outbreaks among communities with low vaccination rates.
South Plains Public Health District Director Zach Holbrooks said Monday that his department was first notified in late January about two cases in Gaines County, which has one of the highest rates of vaccine exemptions in the state, AP reports. Fifteen cases have now been identified in the county, mostly in school-aged children. Some of the cases appear to be connected to private religious schools in the district.
“I wouldn’t say they’re all connected, but our teams are looking into exposure sites and the background of those cases,” said Holbrooks.
Local health officials organized a drive-through vaccination clinic last week and are offering screening services to residents.
Texas law allows children to get an exemption from school vaccines for “reasons of conscience,” including religious beliefs. According to data from the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), the percentage of Texas children with exemptions increased from 0.76% in 2014 to 2.32% in 2024.
In Gaines County, nearly 14% of students from kindergarten through grade 12 had an exemption in the 2023-2024 school year — more than five times the state average and more than four times the national average of 3.3%. DSHS spokesperson Lara Anton said the number of unvaccinated children is likely significantly higher since Gaines County has many children who are homeschooled and whose data isn’t reported.
“Due to the highly contagious nature of this disease, additional cases are likely to occur in Gaines County and the surrounding communities,” DSHS warned in a statement.
Georgia Health Department Reports 2 More Measles Cases
Last week, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported two additional measles cases in the metro-Atlanta area. In late January, the department announced a person who tested positive for measles sought medical treatment at three locations before quarantining. As a result of those visits, epidemiologists have identified over 300 people who were exposed to the contagious person, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Keisha Francis-Christian, Gwinnett County Board of Health’s epidemiology program manager, said residents in over 20 counties have been impacted by the disease investigation, including at least 114 in Gwinnett County. The two newly reported cases are unvaccinated family members of that individual.
CDC data shows that during the 2019-2020 school year, 93.1% of Georgia kindergarteners received the measles vaccine. Last school year, that number dropped to 88.4%.
Measles Vaccination Rates Throughout the U.S.
In a monthly measles update released Feb. 7, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it has received reports of at least 14 cases this year from five jurisdictions: Georgia, Texas, Alaska, New York City, and Rhode Island. All patients were unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status and six were hospitalized for isolation or treatment of complications.
Last year, the U.S. had 284 measles cases — the highest number in five years. That number comes as kindergarten vaccination rates against measles, mumps, and rubella have dropped below the 95% threshold that the CDC says is needed to prevent community outbreaks.
RELATED ARTICLE: 7th Case of Measles Reported at Florida Elementary School Before the measles vaccine was developed in the 1960s, the disease killed hundreds of children each year in the U.S. In 2023, measles killed more than 107,000 globally. The victims were mostly unvaccinated or undervaccinated children under the age of five. Although a measles death has not been reported in the U.S. since 2015, Adam Ratner, a pediatric infectious disease physician based in New York City, told NPR that not getting vaccinated against measles is a slippery slope.
“It is the most infectious disease that we know by far — much more infectious than flu, much more infectious than COVID or polio or Ebola or anything else that I can think of,” he said. “When vaccination levels start to fall, we see measles outbreaks first, and then those are often followed by outbreaks of other vaccine-preventable diseases, things that are a little less contagious than measles.”
Why is the legal status of the residents important?
If I lived in San Antonio, how would that inform my decision whether or not to get the vaccine?
“So is letting 10 million diseased 3rd worlders flood in.”
No one has been able to explain to me the medical distinction between diseased 3rd worlders, diseased 1st worlders, and diseased Americans.
COVID-19 came to our shores borne by well-heeled travelers. An affluent Chicago dentist returning from a vacation getaway in Quintana Roo can carry the measles virus as easily as a tomato-picking Guatemalan.
No problem here.
All I did was provide a govt-recommended baseline.
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