Latest news with #LubbockPublicHealth
Newsweek
23-05-2025
- Health
- Newsweek
Texas Sees Surge in Babies Getting Vaccinated: 'Really Scared'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Measles vaccination rates among babies in Texas have increased more than 30-fold in some instances as parents are "really scared" about an outbreak in the western portion of the state. Lara Anton, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services, told Newsweek that because of the West Texas outbreak, the agency recommended that infants living in or visiting outbreak-designated counties get an early (zero) dose of the measles vaccine at 6 to 11 months. Why It Matters In February, Texas experienced its biggest measles outbreak in about three decades. West Texas saw an influx of almost 50 cases, and health officials attributed the drastic uptick to a close-knit, undervaccinated Mennonite community. Cases have continued to rise in the months since, leading to hospitalizations and the deaths of two children. A sign outside the Lubbock Public Health facility in Texas on April 9. A sign outside the Lubbock Public Health facility in Texas on April To Know The ongoing situation has resulted in Texas parents being more proactive to vaccinate their babies than in years past. Truveta, a health care and analytics company, shared internal data showing that about 10 percent of 10-month-old children in Texas had received at least one measles vaccine in April alone—about 10.4-fold higher than the January 2024 to January 2025 average. Also in April, about 8.7 percent of 6-month-olds in Texas received a measles vaccine. That's a 31.7-fold increase compared to the 0.3 percent averaged between January 2024 and January 2025. In March and April, about 20.1 percent of all first measles vaccines were administered to children between 6 and 11 months—an 11.5-fold increase compared to 2019, when international and domestic outbreaks were ongoing. "It does show that parents really are scared, and that parents don't want to wait," Nina Masters, a senior applied research scientist at Truveta, told the Texas Tribune. "They don't want to wait 12 months to get their child vaccinated. They want to wait six months and one day, and they want to do it as soon as they can." Newsweek has contacted Truveta for comment. The Centers for Disease Control recommends the first measles vaccine (administered in the U.S. as the combined measles, mumps, rubella vaccine, or MMR or MMRV) to be issued between 12 and 15 months, with a later dose around kindergarten age—i.e., ages 4 to 6. However, Truveta data from 2020 to 2024 found a "stark decline" in the number of kids overall receiving the vaccine on time. Anton said children who received an early dose of the measles vaccine should still get the two regularly scheduled doses, meaning they would ultimately get three doses of MMR—with the second dose coming at least 28 days after the early dose. DSHS data showed that between January 1 and April 30, 51,275 doses were administered—including 44,168 to children 12 to 15 months. In 2019, the annual total was 54,184. However, the Texas immunization registry requires people to opt in. As most Texans have not done so, the overall count of early MMR vaccines administered during this time period could be different, the DSHS spokesperson added. DSHS, which provides two weekly updates on cases, said on May 20 that 722 cases had been confirmed statewide since late January. Less than 1 percent, or fewer than 10 of the confirmed cases, are estimated to be actively infectious since their rash onset date was less than a week ago. Individuals are described as infectious four days prior to and four days after rash onset. Of those 722 cases, 92 of them have led to hospitalizations. Two children have died, including an 8-year-old girl in Lubbock. She died of "measles pulmonary failure" in April at UMC Health System. DSHS said the following counties had ongoing measles transmission: Cochran, Dawson, Gaines, Lamar, Lubbock, Terry and Yoakum. On Tuesday, Dallam was removed from the list of designated outbreak counties because it had been 42 days, or two incubation periods, since the last infectious case. There have been 15 documented measles cases outside the West Texas region this year. DSHS reported that of the 722 confirmed cases, 688 were found in unvaccinated individuals or those with an unknown vaccination status, while 19 individuals who received two-plus doses of the MMR vaccine were infected. What People Are Saying Lara Anton, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services, told Newsweek: "DSHS has been encouraging people to get vaccinated if they are not immune to measles because it is the best way to prevent illness and stop the virus from spreading." Miranda Yaver, an assistant professor of health policy and management at the University of Pittsburgh, told Newsweek: "We now have over 1,000 confirmed measles cases in the United States, and this is avoidable with vaccination, which we know to be safe and effective. We are seeing the proliferation of vaccine hesitancy, with a pronounced partisan split, extending well beyond the COVID vaccine. As secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has immense power and responsibility to promote vaccine safety and efficacy, especially amid these outbreaks that have resulted in some tragic deaths." Kala Hunter, a Texas mother of a 2-year-old son, told NBC News: "Being in the hotbed of the measles outbreak, it was a no-brainer. If it was safe to get him vaccinated early, we were going to protect him." What Happens Next DSHS said in its May 20 assessment, "Due to the highly contagious nature of this disease, additional cases are likely to occur in the outbreak area and the surrounding communities." The national conversation around vaccines is also set to continue. Earlier this month, when asked whether he would vaccinate his own children against diseases such as measles, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told the House Appropriations Committee: "My opinions about vaccines are irrelevant. I don't think people should be taking advice, medical advice from me. I don't want to give advice."
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
As measles outbreak nears 600 cases, fears grow about spread in day cares and urban areas
A measles outbreak spanning multiple states is nearing 600 cases, and experts say it might just be the beginning. As of Tuesday, Texas has reported 505 cases associated with the outbreak, New Mexico has reported 56 cases, and Oklahoma has reported 10: eight confirmed and two probable. Cases in Kansas, which the state health department says may also be linked to the outbreak, reached 24 last week. The outbreak began in rural Gaines County, Texas, where most of the cases are concentrated, but Tuesday's update shows spread into 21 Texas counties. Local officials are particularly worried about spread of the measles virus into new areas and vulnerable populations, such as urban centers. 'I'm worried about exposures in grocery stores, malls and those types of places that don't exist as much out in the rural community,' Katherine Wells, director of Lubbock Public Health, said Tuesday. 'You have a much bigger population, so one case can be exposing a lot more individuals.' In these areas, public health workers will need to do more to figure out who is at risk, who is exposed and who needs to isolate, she said. Some local health departments have said that recent cuts to funding from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will hinder their epidemiology work and lab capacity for identifying measles cases. In Lubbock, measles exposure in a day care center has resulted in seven cases in children under the age of 5, Wells said Tuesday. This is a particularly vulnerable community, as many of the children are not old enough to get their second dose of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. Under normal circumstances, the CDC recommends one dose of MMR between 12 to 15 months of age and another between 4 and 6 years. In outbreak situations, these guidelines may be updated. 'Our biggest challenge right now is really around younger children,' Wells said. 'One of my biggest concerns was outbreaks in places where we have vulnerable individuals, individuals that can't be vaccinated yet, or children that are undervaccinated because they're only eligible for that one vaccine.' The local health department is encouraging vaccination for other children at the day care center, in line with recommendations from the Texas Department of Health Services that children ages 1 to 4 in the outbreak area get their second dose as soon as possible, as long as it's at least 28 days after their first dose. Infants who are 6 to 11 months in the outbreak area can get an early dose of the MMR vaccine and will then resume the normal MMR schedule with two more doses. Given the contagious nature of the virus and low vaccination rates in many pockets of the country, experts expect the outbreak to grow, possibly for more than a year. Continued spread of the virus for more than 12 months could threaten the measles elimination status the US earned in 2000, according to the CDC. 'I think it is going to be something that really pushes us to the deadline for elimination for the United States, as well as for the Americas,' Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said Tuesday. Compared with other recent US outbreaks, cases are vastly undercounted in this outbreak, he said, in part because it has been concentrated in a Mennonite population that is undervaccinated. 'There might be reticence to get tested in some of those areas, [which] probably means that this is a lot bigger than the outbreaks that we've seen in the past,' Adalja said. Three deaths have been connected with the outbreak: two school-age children in Texas and an adult in New Mexico whose death remains under investigation. All of these people were unvaccinated. There have been at least 659 measles cases this year, according to a CNN tally. Data from the CDC shows that there are usually 1 or 2 deaths for every 1,000 cases of measles. The number of deaths in this outbreak has reaffirmed to experts that there are far more cases on the ground than have been reported. US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. touted the response to the outbreak on Tuesday. 'Our strategy has been very successful. … The growth rate has diminished substantially,' he said. 'And so what we're doing right here in the United States is a model for the rest of the world.' But experts say it's not so simple. 'I don't think that RFK Jr. has the information to be able to say that. I don't think any of us have full situational awareness of what's going on with this outbreak. … We think cases are undercounted,' Adalja said. 'You can't say something is flattening if you don't actually know the denominator of cases or [have] an understanding you're getting [the] full capture of the cases.' The outbreak will continue until the virus infects all susceptible people in the area, he said. 'All of these cases could be avoided if everyone who had the ability to be vaccinated did so,' said Dr. Christina Johns, a pediatric emergency physician at PM Pediatric Care in Annapolis, Maryland. 'Our overall vaccination rates are declining, which is an anti-science trend, so I'm not sure the United States is a model at all in this regard.' The CDC updated its measles guidance for health care providers across the country Tuesday, urging them to stay alert for possible cases. The agency noted that 12% of reported cases this year had been hospitalized and that the 'measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination is the best way to protect against measles and its complications.'
CNN
09-04-2025
- Health
- CNN
As measles outbreak nears 600 cases, fears grow about spread in day cares and urban areas
A measles outbreak spanning multiple states is nearing 600 cases, and experts say it might just be the beginning. As of Tuesday, Texas has reported 505 cases associated with the outbreak, New Mexico has reported 56 cases, and Oklahoma has reported 10: eight confirmed and two probable. Cases in Kansas, which the state health department says may also be linked to the outbreak, reached 24 last week. The outbreak began in rural Gaines County, Texas, where most of the cases are concentrated, but Tuesday's update shows spread into 21 Texas counties. Local officials are particularly worried about spread of the measles virus into new areas and vulnerable populations, such as urban centers. 'I'm worried about exposures in grocery stores, malls and those types of places that don't exist as much out in the rural community,' Katherine Wells, director of Lubbock Public Health, said Tuesday. 'You have a much bigger population, so one case can be exposing a lot more individuals.' In these areas, public health workers will need to do more to figure out who is at risk, who is exposed and who needs to isolate, she said. Some local health departments have said that recent cuts to funding from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will hinder their epidemiology work and lab capacity for identifying measles cases. In Lubbock, measles exposure in a day care center has resulted in seven cases in children under the age of 5, Wells said Tuesday. This is a particularly vulnerable community, as many of the children are not old enough to get their second dose of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. Under normal circumstances, the CDC recommends one dose of MMR between 12 to 15 months of age and another between 4 and 6 years. In outbreak situations, these guidelines may be updated. 'Our biggest challenge right now is really around younger children,' Wells said. 'One of my biggest concerns was outbreaks in places where we have vulnerable individuals, individuals that can't be vaccinated yet, or children that are undervaccinated because they're only eligible for that one vaccine.' The local health department is encouraging vaccination for other children at the day care center, in line with recommendations from the Texas Department of Health Services that children ages 1 to 4 in the outbreak area get their second dose as soon as possible, as long as it's at least 28 days after their first dose. Infants who are 6 to 11 months in the outbreak area can get an early dose of the MMR vaccine and will then resume the normal MMR schedule with two more doses. Given the contagious nature of the virus and low vaccination rates in many pockets of the country, experts expect the outbreak to grow, possibly for more than a year. Continued spread of the virus for more than 12 months could threaten the measles elimination status the US earned in 2000, according to the CDC. 'I think it is going to be something that really pushes us to the deadline for elimination for the United States, as well as for the Americas,' Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said Tuesday. Compared with other recent US outbreaks, cases are vastly undercounted in this outbreak, he said, in part because it has been concentrated in a Mennonite population that is undervaccinated. 'There might be reticence to get tested in some of those areas, [which] probably means that this is a lot bigger than the outbreaks that we've seen in the past,' Adalja said. Three deaths have been connected with the outbreak: two school-age children in Texas and an adult in New Mexico whose death remains under investigation. All of these people were unvaccinated. There have been at least 659 measles cases this year, according to a CNN tally. Data from the CDC shows that there are usually 1 or 2 deaths for every 1,000 cases of measles. The number of deaths in this outbreak has reaffirmed to experts that there are far more cases on the ground than have been reported. US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. touted the response to the outbreak on Tuesday. 'Our strategy has been very successful. … The growth rate has diminished substantially,' he said. 'And so what we're doing right here in the United States is a model for the rest of the world.' But experts say it's not so simple. 'I don't think that RFK Jr. has the information to be able to say that. I don't think any of us have full situational awareness of what's going on with this outbreak. … We think cases are undercounted,' Adalja said. 'You can't say something is flattening if you don't actually know the denominator of cases or [have] an understanding you're getting [the] full capture of the cases.' The outbreak will continue until the virus infects all susceptible people in the area, he said. 'All of these cases could be avoided if everyone who had the ability to be vaccinated did so,' said Dr. Christina Johns, a pediatric emergency physician at PM Pediatric Care in Annapolis, Maryland. 'Our overall vaccination rates are declining, which is an anti-science trend, so I'm not sure the United States is a model at all in this regard.' The CDC updated its measles guidance for health care providers across the country Tuesday, urging them to stay alert for possible cases. The agency noted that 12% of reported cases this year had been hospitalized and that the 'measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination is the best way to protect against measles and its complications.'
CNN
09-04-2025
- Health
- CNN
As measles outbreak nears 600 cases, fears grow about spread in day cares and urban areas
A measles outbreak spanning multiple states is nearing 600 cases, and experts say it might just be the beginning. As of Tuesday, Texas has reported 505 cases associated with the outbreak, New Mexico has reported 56 cases, and Oklahoma has reported 10: eight confirmed and two probable. Cases in Kansas, which the state health department says may also be linked to the outbreak, reached 24 last week. The outbreak began in rural Gaines County, Texas, where most of the cases are concentrated, but Tuesday's update shows spread into 21 Texas counties. Local officials are particularly worried about spread of the measles virus into new areas and vulnerable populations, such as urban centers. 'I'm worried about exposures in grocery stores, malls and those types of places that don't exist as much out in the rural community,' Katherine Wells, director of Lubbock Public Health, said Tuesday. 'You have a much bigger population, so one case can be exposing a lot more individuals.' In these areas, public health workers will need to do more to figure out who is at risk, who is exposed and who needs to isolate, she said. Some local health departments have said that recent cuts to funding from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will hinder their epidemiology work and lab capacity for identifying measles cases. In Lubbock, measles exposure in a day care center has resulted in seven cases in children under the age of 5, Wells said Tuesday. This is a particularly vulnerable community, as many of the children are not old enough to get their second dose of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. Under normal circumstances, the CDC recommends one dose of MMR between 12 to 15 months of age and another between 4 and 6 years. In outbreak situations, these guidelines may be updated. 'Our biggest challenge right now is really around younger children,' Wells said. 'One of my biggest concerns was outbreaks in places where we have vulnerable individuals, individuals that can't be vaccinated yet, or children that are undervaccinated because they're only eligible for that one vaccine.' The local health department is encouraging vaccination for other children at the day care center, in line with recommendations from the Texas Department of Health Services that children ages 1 to 4 in the outbreak area get their second dose as soon as possible, as long as it's at least 28 days after their first dose. Infants who are 6 to 11 months in the outbreak area can get an early dose of the MMR vaccine and will then resume the normal MMR schedule with two more doses. Given the contagious nature of the virus and low vaccination rates in many pockets of the country, experts expect the outbreak to grow, possibly for more than a year. Continued spread of the virus for more than 12 months could threaten the measles elimination status the US earned in 2000, according to the CDC. 'I think it is going to be something that really pushes us to the deadline for elimination for the United States, as well as for the Americas,' Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said Tuesday. Compared with other recent US outbreaks, cases are vastly undercounted in this outbreak, he said, in part because it has been concentrated in a Mennonite population that is undervaccinated. 'There might be reticence to get tested in some of those areas, [which] probably means that this is a lot bigger than the outbreaks that we've seen in the past,' Adalja said. Three deaths have been connected with the outbreak: two school-age children in Texas and an adult in New Mexico whose death remains under investigation. All of these people were unvaccinated. There have been at least 659 measles cases this year, according to a CNN tally. Data from the CDC shows that there are usually 1 or 2 deaths for every 1,000 cases of measles. The number of deaths in this outbreak has reaffirmed to experts that there are far more cases on the ground than have been reported. US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. touted the response to the outbreak on Tuesday. 'Our strategy has been very successful. … The growth rate has diminished substantially,' he said. 'And so what we're doing right here in the United States is a model for the rest of the world.' But experts say it's not so simple. 'I don't think that RFK Jr. has the information to be able to say that. I don't think any of us have full situational awareness of what's going on with this outbreak. … We think cases are undercounted,' Adalja said. 'You can't say something is flattening if you don't actually know the denominator of cases or [have] an understanding you're getting [the] full capture of the cases.' The outbreak will continue until the virus infects all susceptible people in the area, he said. 'All of these cases could be avoided if everyone who had the ability to be vaccinated did so,' said Dr. Christina Johns, a pediatric emergency physician at PM Pediatric Care in Annapolis, Maryland. 'Our overall vaccination rates are declining, which is an anti-science trend, so I'm not sure the United States is a model at all in this regard.' The CDC updated its measles guidance for health care providers across the country Tuesday, urging them to stay alert for possible cases. The agency noted that 12% of reported cases this year had been hospitalized and that the 'measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination is the best way to protect against measles and its complications.'
CNN
09-04-2025
- Health
- CNN
As measles outbreak nears 600 cases, fears grow about spread in day cares and urban areas
A measles outbreak spanning multiple states is nearing 600 cases, and experts say it might just be the beginning. As of Tuesday, Texas has reported 505 cases associated with the outbreak, New Mexico has reported 56 cases, and Oklahoma has reported 10: eight confirmed and two probable. Cases in Kansas, which the state health department says may also be linked to the outbreak, reached 24 last week. The outbreak began in rural Gaines County, Texas, where most of the cases are concentrated, but Tuesday's update shows spread into 21 Texas counties. Local officials are particularly worried about spread of the measles virus into new areas and vulnerable populations, such as urban centers. 'I'm worried about exposures in grocery stores, malls and those types of places that don't exist as much out in the rural community,' Katherine Wells, director of Lubbock Public Health, said Tuesday. 'You have a much bigger population, so one case can be exposing a lot more individuals.' In these areas, public health workers will need to do more to figure out who is at risk, who is exposed and who needs to isolate, she said. Some local health departments have said that recent cuts to funding from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will hinder their epidemiology work and lab capacity for identifying measles cases. In Lubbock, measles exposure in a day care center has resulted in seven cases in children under the age of 5, Wells said Tuesday. This is a particularly vulnerable community, as many of the children are not old enough to get their second dose of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. Under normal circumstances, the CDC recommends one dose of MMR between 12 to 15 months of age and another between 4 and 6 years. In outbreak situations, these guidelines may be updated. 'Our biggest challenge right now is really around younger children,' Wells said. 'One of my biggest concerns was outbreaks in places where we have vulnerable individuals, individuals that can't be vaccinated yet, or children that are undervaccinated because they're only eligible for that one vaccine.' The local health department is encouraging vaccination for other children at the day care center, in line with recommendations from the Texas Department of Health Services that children ages 1 to 4 in the outbreak area get their second dose as soon as possible, as long as it's at least 28 days after their first dose. Infants who are 6 to 11 months in the outbreak area can get an early dose of the MMR vaccine and will then resume the normal MMR schedule with two more doses. Given the contagious nature of the virus and low vaccination rates in many pockets of the country, experts expect the outbreak to grow, possibly for more than a year. Continued spread of the virus for more than 12 months could threaten the measles elimination status the US earned in 2000, according to the CDC. 'I think it is going to be something that really pushes us to the deadline for elimination for the United States, as well as for the Americas,' Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said Tuesday. Compared with other recent US outbreaks, cases are vastly undercounted in this outbreak, he said, in part because it has been concentrated in a Mennonite population that is undervaccinated. 'There might be reticence to get tested in some of those areas, [which] probably means that this is a lot bigger than the outbreaks that we've seen in the past,' Adalja said. Three deaths have been connected with the outbreak: two school-age children in Texas and an adult in New Mexico whose death remains under investigation. All of these people were unvaccinated. There have been at least 659 measles cases this year, according to a CNN tally. Data from the CDC shows that there are usually 1 or 2 deaths for every 1,000 cases of measles. The number of deaths in this outbreak has reaffirmed to experts that there are far more cases on the ground than have been reported. US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. touted the response to the outbreak on Tuesday. 'Our strategy has been very successful. … The growth rate has diminished substantially,' he said. 'And so what we're doing right here in the United States is a model for the rest of the world.' But experts say it's not so simple. 'I don't think that RFK Jr. has the information to be able to say that. I don't think any of us have full situational awareness of what's going on with this outbreak. … We think cases are undercounted,' Adalja said. 'You can't say something is flattening if you don't actually know the denominator of cases or [have] an understanding you're getting [the] full capture of the cases.' The outbreak will continue until the virus infects all susceptible people in the area, he said. 'All of these cases could be avoided if everyone who had the ability to be vaccinated did so,' said Dr. Christina Johns, a pediatric emergency physician at PM Pediatric Care in Annapolis, Maryland. 'Our overall vaccination rates are declining, which is an anti-science trend, so I'm not sure the United States is a model at all in this regard.' The CDC updated its measles guidance for health care providers across the country Tuesday, urging them to stay alert for possible cases. The agency noted that 12% of reported cases this year had been hospitalized and that the 'measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination is the best way to protect against measles and its complications.'
