Measles outbreak surpasses 200 cases in Texas and New Mexico

SEMINOLE, Texas — The measles outbreak in West Texas has soared to 198 cases, the Texas Department of State Health Services reported Friday. In New Mexico, 30 cases have been reported in Lea County, which borders Gaines County, of as Friday.

Twenty-three people — mostly unvaccinated children — have been hospitalized in West Texas.

A 6-year-old in Texas died last week, and on Wednesday, Lea County health officials reported a suspected measles death in an adult.

The reported number of cases is likely a large undercount because many people aren't getting tested, said Katherine Wells, director of public health at the health department in Lubbock, Texas.

Even as hospitals in the area offer free testing and vaccination, the growing outbreak shows the challenge health workers face in stopping the spread of one of the most contagious viruses known to humans.

A health food store in Seminole has become a gathering place for families with visibly sick children seeking medical advice. They’re often given cod liver oil, a supplement rich in vitamin A that’s been touted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., head of the Department of Health and Human Services.

While studies have shown that people with a vitamin A deficiency have worse outcomes from measles and its complications, “vitamin A in and of itself does not treat measles,” said Dr. Alexandra Yonts, an infectious disease specialist at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C.

In the U.S., “most of us get enough vitamin A,” Yonts said. “Therefore taking any additional vitamin A will unlikely give you any benefits against complications of measles.”

“It absolutely cannot prevent you from getting measles,” she added.

The majority of the measles cases are centered in Gaines County, where Seminole is, but some have popped up in neighboring counties including Lubbock and Terry counties, the Texas Health Department said.

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Gaines County has one of Texas's highest vaccine exemption rates, at nearly 18%.

In an editorial published Sunday on Fox News’ website, Kennedy said “the decision to vaccinate is a personal one.” He has not urged the public to get the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine.

Two doses of the vaccine are 97% effective at preventing measles, according to the CDC. The first dose is given to children 12 to 15 months old, and the second when they are 4 to 6 years old. On Thursday, the Texas Health Department notified families in the area that they could consider an early dose of the MMR vaccine for babies 6 to 12 months.

“The vaccine is our best tool to protect individuals against measles,” said Dr. Tina Tan, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.

“People need to understand that vaccines work to prevent the deaths that are associated with these very serious vaccine-preventable diseases,” Tan, also the president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, said.