All the cases are in unvaccinated residents of Gaines County; nine patients have required hospitalization
By Stephanie Brown HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Feb. 13, 2025 (HealthDay News) — New numbers have been released by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) in an update on the measles outbreak in Gaines County: 22 children and two adults have been infected as of Feb. 11.
All cases have been identified among unvaccinated individuals. Symptom onset began within the last two weeks, and so far, nine patients have been hospitalized.
“It is troubling, because this was completely preventable,” Amesh Adalja, M.D., an infectious disease physician and senior scholar at Johns Hopkins, told CBS News. “It’s the most contagious infectious disease known to humans. And when we start to see measles outbreak, that’s a sign that there is a chink in the armor of vaccination and the fact that it’s preventable, I think, is what people should understand. This doesn’t have to happen if we can get vaccination rates back to high levels again.”
Earlier this year, the Houston Health Department confirmed two cases of measles in Harris County residents, which were the first measles cases reported in Texas since 2023 and prompted a DSHS health alert on Jan. 23.
Health officials at the DSHS warn that additional cases are likely to occur in Gaines County and the surrounding communities. In its health alert summary, the DSHS advises clinicians to “immediately report any suspected cases to your local health department, preferably while the patient is in your presence.”
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 2023 to 2024 school year saw the highest level of vaccine exemptions for kindergarteners (3.3 percent). The DSHS notes that in Gaines County, the number was much higher, at 17.62 percent (nearly one in five children).
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