The outbreak of measles that spread across the West Texas sash and killed one child shows no signs of slowing down, according to data released Tuesday by state health officials.
The Texas Department of Health reported that nearly 160 people have contracted measles since late January.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday that it would send some of its “disease detectives” to Texas.
The news comes amid criticism of federal officials for underestimating the need for the measles manpsulverra vaccine, one of the most important tools in quelling the outbreak.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Sunday described the vaccination as a personal decision.
In a pre-recorded interview aired on Fox News on Tuesday, he said the federal government is transporting vitamin A to Gaines County, West Texas, and helping to arrange ambulance rides.
HHS previously said the MMR vaccine was the dosage of the MMR vaccine, but Kennedy had not mentioned the vaccination.
Doctors saw “very good results,” Kennedy argued that Texas measles cases were treated with the steroid budesonide. An antibiotic called clarithromycin. And he said that cod liver oil he said had high levels of vitamin A and vitamin D.
While doctors may treat children with severe measles cases by administering vitamin A, cod liver oil is “never” evidence-based treatment, says Dr. Sean O'Leary, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases.
Dr. O'Leary added that he has never heard of a doctor using supplements for measles.
In a comment that appears to refer to traditional safeguards against measles, Kennedy said, “We'll be the first time we'll be honest with the American people about what we actually have in history, all our tests and all our research, what we know, what we don't know.”
“We're going to tell them, and it's trying to anger people who want an ideological approach to public health.”
The current dimensions of occurrence are unknown. Katherine Wells, director of public health in Lubbock, Texas, said official case numbers in the Texas outbreak are likely to be lacking.
The outbreak has spread widely within the Mennonite community in Gaines County, where vaccination rates have historically been low and often avoided interaction with the health care system.
Wells said many of these families do not seek medical appointments for measles and believe they are not explained by the state's official numbers.
“I think there are probably hundreds,” she said. “We know that some of their schools are closed along with a lot of sick children, but we don't know who those kids are.”
Last year, around 82% of the county's kindergarten population received the measles, mumps and rubella vaccines. Experts say at least 95% of the community need to be vaccinated to stop the outbreak.
With lower US vaccination rates increasing pockets of vulnerable children, the outbreak is more likely to jump from unvaccinated groups to another.
Only 93% of kindergarten students across the country received measles, mumps and rubella vaccines from 95% of the pandemic between 2023 and 24.
“The fact that these communities are spaced out has greatly benefited as Americans,” said Michael Mina, formerly an epidemiologist at Harvard University and now the chief medical officer of EMED.
“One of those cases can no longer benefit from this space, so all cases can be set on fire,” he said.
In Texas, measles cases have been identified in nine counties, many of which have vaccination rates below federal recommendations.
Recent state data shows that around 80% of kindergarten students in one of the Terry County public school districts acquired by neighbors have been vaccinated for measles. The county reported 22 cases of measles on Tuesday.
The New Mexico county, which borders Gaines County, reports nine measles cases.
Most measles cases resolve in a few weeks, but in rare cases the virus can cause pneumonia, making it difficult for patients, especially children to get oxygen in the lungs, or swelling in the brain, leading to blindness, hearing loss and intellectual disability.
According to the CDC, one in five people who catch measles will be hospitalized.
The virus also weakens the immune system over the long term and makes the host more susceptible to future infections. A 2015 study found that measles could be responsible for up to half of all infectious disease deaths in children before the MMR vaccine became widely available.
Sheryl Gay Stolberg contributed the report.
