Viral Measles Outbreak Spreads, Kills

Measles Outbreak in Lubbock

On Tuesday, Feb. 25, an unvaccinated child in Lubbock died from measles, after being hospitalized at Covenant Children’s Hospital, marking the first fatality from the disease in the U.S. since 2015. The most recent outbreak started back in January, and originated in Gaines County, with cases still climbing, amounting to more than 124 cases—most in children ages 5 to 17.

Dr. Amy Thompson is one of the doctors at Covenant, now providing supportive care for more than 20 young measles patients. Notably, “like so many viruses, there aren’t any specific treatments for measles,” says Thompson, so care teams are left treating and hoping for recovery. Symptoms vary, and and for some, the illness has progressed to bacterial pneumonia, requiring intubation, an invasive medical procedure where a tube is inserted into the trachea (windpipe) to maintain an open airway and facilitate breathing.

Why is this happening?

Before the introduction of the measles vaccine in 1963 and widespread vaccination, major epidemics occurred approximately every two to three years and caused an estimated 2.6 million deaths each year, in contrast to an estimated 107,500 deaths globally in 2023 (mostly among unvaccinated or under vaccinated children under the age of 5 years.) Because of decades of hard work and advances in medicine, we can fight the spread of this disease. Today, measles vaccinations have averted more than 60 million deaths between 2000 and 2023.
The virus is yet again creeping through Texas communities, which experts attribute to the prevalence of anti-vaccination rhetoric and Texas law allowing vaccine exemptions. This outbreak started and continues to hook into Gaines County, which is around 80 percent vaccinated, demonstrating that “this epidemic is due to people not getting vaccinated rather than due to any kind of vaccine failure,” says Dr. David N. Fisman, continuing, “if the vaccine didn't work, you'd expect 80 percent of the cases to be vaccinated rather than 5-6 percent.”

The anti-vaccination movement and laws allowing vaccine exemptions, paired with the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting setbacks in immunization efforts, have created a deadly combination: leaving the most vulnerable, young populations susceptible to an extremely contagious, preventable disease.

What does state leadership have to say?

This isn’t happening in a vacuum. Gaines County vaccination rates were permitted to be low by Texas law, spearheaded by anti-vax advocacy groups and their allied elected officials. First came the 2003 bill that created a loophole for Texans to opt-out of vaccinating their kids by allowing “Texans to claim a conscientious exemption in addition to established exemptions based on medical and religious reasons.” This permitted unvaccinated children to attend school with vaccinated populations if they just have the right paperwork.

Meanwhile, in this 89th legislative session, anti-vax advocacy groups want to expand this statute, building off the Texans for Vaccine Choice’s successful push back on mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations in the workplace in 2023. For this session,“Republicans are filing most of the bills which aim to claw back vaccine requirements. . . [including] an amendment to the Texas Constitution that would preserve Texans’ right to refuse a vaccination.” 
Now is not the time to loosen up on public health protections and safety measures. We are years into a worldwide pandemic, facing threats from the bird flu, norovirus, and RSV, and even the normal bugs loom large, with us facing the worst flu outbreak in 15 years. Topping all that off with rising rates for under or unvaccinated children: it's time to close the Texas-sized loophole in the state's vaccination law. At the very least, the measles virus can be avoided if a population’s immunity rates are high enough (95% for measles) that it has nowhere to go. Let’s not make it easier to get sick.

So why, and where is, the pushback?

From our national leadership. U.S. Health Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is one of the most vocal voices nationally against vaccines—personally making millions of dollars promoting anti-vax rhetoric via speaking fees, dividends from his vaccine lawsuits, and from his anti-vax nonprofit, Children’s Health Defense—tied to rampant misinformation about the efficacy and safety of measles vaccines throughout Samoa. There, vaccination rates dropped from 60-70 percent to just 31 percent, and the island nation reported 5,707 cases of measles as well as 83 measles-related deaths. Again, the majority of which were children under the age of 5. He is no stranger to the deadly consequences of anti-vax rhetoric on the people he claims to help.

In President Donald Trump’s first full cabinet meeting, the freshly appointed anti-vax profiteer misstated facts, downplayed the outbreak, and demonstrated that he has no business in this vital role. RFK referred to the school-age child’s death as “not unusual,” and from a leading position of power on public health: misstated crucial facts on the case, stating that there had been two deaths and that those hospitalized were “mainly there for quarantine.” False. Most patients were admitted for respiratory issues, and the hospital dealing with the majority of the cases does not hospitalize patients for quarantine purposes. 

Time to get your booster shots.

Despite RFK’s lack of expertise and accountability, real health leaders are sounding the alarms. “Health officials are urging residents, particularly those in impacted areas, to check their vaccination records and get the MMR vaccine if they haven't already.” For your own purposes, and for the better health of your community, know the symptoms and check up on your immunization records. Any non-immune person (not vaccinated or vaccinated, but did not develop immunity) can become infected. Unvaccinated young children and pregnant persons are at highest risk of severe measles complications.

Early symptoms usually last 4–7 days. They include:

• Running nose
• Cough
• Red and watery eyes
• Small white spots inside the cheeks.
• The rash begins about 7–18 days after exposure, usually on the face and upper neck. It spreads over about 3 days, eventually to the hands and feet. It usually lasts 5–6 days before fading.