Measles Cases Skyrocket As More Texas Children Test Positive

A serious measles outbreak is increasingly infecting children in Texas.

Just weeks ago, a total of 6 people tested positive for measles in Gaines County, with the majority being unvaccinated school-aged children.

Now, the cases have skyrocketed to 48 in Texas. The majority of those come from Gaines County, which has reported 42 cases. However, the surrounding counties are now becoming infected. Terry County reported 3 cases, Yoakum County reported 2, and Lynn County confirmed 1 case.

School-aged children among the most infected

The majority of people who contracted the illness were school-aged children, ranging from 5 to 17 years old. All of those infected were either unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status.

Interestingly, the vaccine used to prevent measles, measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) was opted out by 1 in 5 kindergarteners in Gaines County. The outbreak is becoming such an issue that South Plains Public Health District has begun hosting free health clinics were the MMR vaccine is being offered at no cost.

Why has measles been rising over the years?

Last year a total of 285 confirmed measles cases were reported. Parents are choosing to opt out of certain vaccines for their children when entering kindergarten, which could be leaving them vulnerable to the highly contagious illness.

The goal of the US Department of Health and Human Services is to have, at minimum, 95% of kindergarteners double vaccinated with the MMR vaccine. However, they have failed to meet that goal for the last four years.

Measles is a highly contagious airborne illness that can spread easily and quickly.