Measles outbreak escalating among children in red state's least vaccinated counties

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https://www.alternet.org/measles-texas/

Measles outbreak escalating among children in red state's least vaccinated counties

Amy Maxmen, KFF Health NewsFebruary 07, 2025

A measles outbreak is growing in a Texas county with dangerously low vaccination rates.

In late January, two school-age children from Gaines County were hospitalized with measles. Since an estimated 1 in 5 people with the disease end up in the hospital, the two cases suggested a larger outbreak.

As of Feb. 6, there were 12 confirmed cases and health officials expected an additional six, said Zach Holbrooks, executive director of the South Plains Public Health District, which includes Gaines. The department is investigating many other potential cases among close contacts, he said, in hopes of treating people quickly and curbing the spread of the virus.

Public health practitioners warn such outbreaks will become more common because of scores of laws around the U.S. — pending and passed — that ultimately lower vaccine rates. Many of the measures allow parents to more easily exempt their children from school vaccine requirements, and a swell of vaccine misinformation has led to record rates of exemptions.

As Robert F. Kennedy Jr., one of the most influential purveyors of dangerous vaccine misinformation, prepares to take the helm of the Department of Health and Human Services, researchers say such bills have a higher chance of passing and that more parents will refuse vaccines because of false information spread at the highest levels of government.

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