State offers specific measles guidance for 10 West Texas 'outbreak' counties
The Texas Department of State Health Services this week released an updated set of vaccine recommendations for 10 West Texas counties at the center of an ongoing measles outbreak that has so far claimed two children's lives and infected more than 500 people in the region.
Although 22 Texas counties have reported at least one measles case, the state in recent weeks has been designating counties with the most measles cases as 'outbreak areas.' On Monday the outbreak area expanded from six to 10 counties: Cochran, Dallam, Dawson, Gaines, Garza, Lamar, Lynn, Lubbock, Terry and Yoakum.
The recommendations for those living or traveling to the outbreak counties covers Texans of all ages, not just young children. The agency stressed that vaccination is the best defense against measles and that two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella or MMR vaccine prevents more than 97% of measles infections.
Among DSHS' recommendations for outbreak areas:
Children 6 to 11 months receive an 'outbreak' dose of the MMR vaccine if they live or are traveling to an outbreak county
Children over 12 months old who have not been vaccinated with the MMR vaccine receive one dose and follow up with a second at least 28 days later
Teens and adults should also be up to date on their MMR vaccination
Adults born between 1957 and 1968 who only received one MMR vaccine from that time period should consider getting one dose of the current vaccine
Adults born before 1957, pregnant women, and people with severe immunodeficiency are not recommended to receive any dose of MMR vaccine
More information on outbreak area guidance can be found here.
The guidance was offered in a 30-slide presentation by Dr. Dr. Varun Shetty, DSHS chief epidemiologist, during the state agency's public health funding and policy committee meeting.
Shetty also stressed that there is no specific antiviral therapy for measles and that 'vitamin A is not a preventative treatment.'
Vitamin A is not a cure for measles. But for those with severe vitamin A deficiencies it can lessen symptoms.
It's a therapy long touted by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a treatment for measles, a claim discounted by physicians because most Americans get enough vitamin A in their regular diet.
Because the public is asking questions about using vitamin A to relieve measles symptoms, the state agency has been recommending that patients interested in vitamin A consult with their health care provider about it. The state agency also offers this guidance:
Under the supervision of a healthcare provider, vitamin A may be administered to infants and children in the United States with measles as part of supportive management.
Also under physician supervision, if vitamin A is recommended, it should be administered immediately after a measles diagnosis and repeated the next day for a total of 2 doses.
The state health agency cautioned that inappropriate dosing can lead to vitamin A toxicity.
The recommended age-specific daily doses are of vitamin A, according to DSHS is 50,000 IU for infants younger than 6 months, 100,000 IU for infants 6–11 months and 200,000 IU for children 12 months and older
The inclusion of vitamin A comes a month after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made a similar announcement on Feb. 28, two days after the first West Texas child died of measles.
Tickets are on sale now for the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas' breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. Get tickets before May 1 and save big! TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
10 hours ago
- The Hill
Vaccine advisers set to review ingredient in influenza shot
PRESENTED BY The Big Story Coming next week: The first meeting of RFK Jr.'s handpicked vaccine advisory panel. © Photo credit It's the first meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) since Kennedy fired all 17 members and appointed eight new panelists, several of whom are vocal vaccine critics. As part of its scaled-down two-day meeting beginning Wednesday, the committee is set to vote on influenza vaccines that contain thimerosal — an ingredient wrongly linked to autism. Kennedy has long advocated for banning thimerosal, a preservative that was widely used for decades in a number of biological and drug products, including many vaccines. In his 2014 book, Kennedy said thimerosal was 'toxic to brain tissue' and likely caused autism. Thimerosal, a compound that contains mercury, is used as a preservative to prevent harmful bacteria in multidose vials of vaccines. The compound has been largely phased out as manufacturers have shifted toward single-use vials that contain little or no thimerosal, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Thimerosal was largely removed from pediatric vaccines by 2001, amid concerns that it could be linked to autism in children. But according to the CDC, 'a robust body of peer-reviewed scientific studies conducted in the U.S. and other countries support the safety of thimerosal-containing vaccines.' The draft agenda for next week's ACIP meeting revisits issues that scientists and public health experts have long considered to be settled, including the use of the measles mumps, rubella and varicella vaccine in children under 5 years old. It's unclear yet what the panel will discuss regarding the shot. The current CDC childhood vaccine schedule recommends two doses for children, with the first dose at age 12-15 months and the second at age 4-6 years. CDC suggests that the MMR vaccine be given rather than MMRV for the first dose, but both shots have been on the schedule for decades. Welcome to The Hill's Health Care newsletter, we're Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here. Essential Reads How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond: Trump administration makes sweeping changes to ObamaCare, ends 'Dreamer' coverage The Trump administration is shortening ObamaCare's annual open enrollment period and ending the law's coverage of immigrants that entered the U.S. illegally as children, according to a final rule announced Friday. The Biden administration made it easier and more affordable to sign up for Affordable Care Act plans, causing enrollment to swell to an all-time high. The Trump administration claims those moves opened a wave … New COVID-19 variant causes 'razor blade throat' Patients and doctors say the latest COVID-19 variant spreading in the U.S. in some cases causes a sore throat so painful it has earned the nickname 'razor blade throat.' The nimbus variant, which is officially known as NB.1.8.1., is a descendant of the omicron and is being monitored by the World Health Organization. 'Your throat is so dry, so cracked, it's so painful, it's even hard to drink sometimes,' Muhammad Azam, … ChatGPT use linked to cognitive decline: MIT research ChatGPT can harm an individual's critical thinking over time, a study released this month suggests. Researchers at MIT's Media Lab asked subjects to write several SAT essays and separated subjects into three groups — using OpenAI's ChatGPT, using Google's search engine and using nothing, which they called the 'brain‑only' group. Each subject's brain was monitored through electroencephalography (EEG), … On Our Radar Upcoming news themes and events we're watching: In Other News Branch out with a different read from The Hill: Agencies they can't enforce anti-trans bias policies against Catholic groups: Judge BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Two federal agencies cannot punish Catholic employers and health care providers if they refuse for religious reasons to provide gender-affirming care to transgender patients or won't provide health insurance coverage for such care to their workers, a federal judge ruled Thursday. The ruling from U.S. District … A MESSAGE FROM ALLIANCE FOR AGING RESEARCH Around the Nation Local and state headlines on health care: What We're Reading Health news we've flagged from other outlets: What Others are Reading Most read stories on The Hill right now: Senate parliamentarian knocks pieces out of Trump's megabill Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has ruled that several key pieces of the massive bill to implement President Trump's agenda run afoul of … Read more Supreme Court rules against FDA, EPA 12:30 Report is The Hill's midday newsletter. Subscribe here or using the box below: Close Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters … Read more What People Think Opinions related to health submitted to The Hill: You're all caught up. See you next week! Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here
Boston Globe
13 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Supreme Court finds retired firefighter cannot sue for disability discrimination
Advertisement In a dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined, in part, by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, argued that the justices had abandoned protections for vulnerable retirees. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'Disabled Americans who have retired from the work force simply want to enjoy the fruits of their labor free from discrimination,' Jackson wrote, adding that Congress had 'plainly protected their right to do so' when it drafted the federal disability rights law. Sotomayor, in a separate writing, argued that a majority of the justices appeared in agreement that retirees may be able to bring disability discrimination claims for actions that occurred while they were still employed. Stanley might have been able to argue that this would apply in her case, too, Sotomayor wrote, but the court had not been asked to weigh in on that question. Advertisement Stanley worked as a firefighter in Sanford, Florida, a city of about 65,000 people northeast of Orlando. When she started her job in 1999, the city offered health insurance until age 65 for two categories of retirees -- those with 25 years of service and those who retired early because of disability. In 2003, the city changed its policy, limiting health insurance to those who retired because of disability to just 24 months of coverage. After nearly two decades, Stanley retired in 2018 at age 47 after she was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. She expected that the city would continue to pay for most of her health insurance until she turned 65, but it refused, citing its changed policy. Stanley sued, claiming that the city had violated the ADA by providing different benefits to 25-year employees versus those who retired because of a disability. She argued that the city's policy amounted to impermissible discrimination based on disability. A federal trial judge dismissed her claim under the ADA, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit agreed. In asking the justices to hear the case, lawyers for Stanley said it could affect millions of disabled Americans who rely on retirement benefits that they earned while employed. One section of the ADA specifies that it is illegal to discriminate in compensation because of a disability. The justices wrestled with whether the section included retirees. Deepak Gupta, a lawyer for Stanley, said in an emailed statement that the decision had created 'a troubling loophole that allows employers to discriminate against retirees simply because they can no longer work due to their disabilities.' Advertisement In her dissent, Jackson wrote that she hoped Congress might step in and provide a 'legislative intervention' to shield other disabled retirees. This article originally appeared in
Atlantic
14 hours ago
- Atlantic
It Has Come to Protein Iced Tea
In the early 1950s, 'Hi-Proteen' powder, one of the first modern protein supplements, hit the market. Initially, it tasted awful. But after its creator, Bob Hoffman, added in Hershey's chocolate, the flavor improved. (He used a canoe paddle to stir his mixture in a giant vat.) Protein products have come a long way since then. Perhaps, they have come too far: Last weekend, at the gym, I was offered a can of lemon-flavored ' protein ice tea.' The summery, yellow-striped packaging advertised 15 grams of protein per can, or about the same as what you might get from three eggs. Apparently protein shakes and protein bars don't cut it anymore. Americans are so obsessed with protein that even an Arnold Palmer comes infused with it. Perhaps protein iced tea was inevitable. Whenever something is trendy, the food industry can't help but push things to the extreme—consider ' plant-based ' peanut butter (as if the spread was not already vegetarian) and gluten-free pumpkin dog biscuits. But even compared with other food trends, the protein situation has gotten out of hand. Just last week, Starbucks announced that it's piloting a high-protein, banana-flavored cold foam. There is protein water, Kardashian-branded protein popcorn, and ' macho ' protein pasta sauce. If you want to get drunk while bulking up, consider a protein-fortified pale ale or a 'Swoleberry' spiked protein seltzer. Nothing is safe from the protein pandemonium. Name a food, and the protein version of it probably exists. Even if you, like me, aren't trying to maximize your protein intake, all of these products can be hard to escape. They have infiltrated every inch of the supermarket: On Monday, I went grocery shopping with the mission of finding the most ridiculous protein-enriched ingredients possible. While preparing my meal, I crunched on ranch-flavored protein tortilla chips (13 grams) and sipped from a bottle of grapefruit-flavored protein water (20 grams). Dinner began with a salad made of 'OrganicGirl Protein Greens,' which feature an assortment of mixed greens including naturally protein-rich sweet-pea leaves (5 grams). My main course was chickpea protein pasta (20 grams) and salmon (40 grams). I topped it all off with a frozen peanut-butter-banana bar for dessert (another 5 grams). In total, I ate more than 170 grams of protein on Monday, or the equivalent of 31 medium eggs. According to the federal government's recommendations, that's almost four times what someone of my build and activity level needs in a day to maintain a ' nutritionally adequate ' diet. The official dietary guidelines suggest that a person needs at least 0.36 grams of protein per pound of body weight to stay healthy. That's not all that much protein. Before my dinner experiment, I had gone through the day without thinking about my protein consumption, and had already surpassed my recommended amount by more than 30 percent. The average American adult regularly exceeds the federal recommendation. So why is protein showing up in iced tea? Some health experts think that the current federal recommendation is insufficient. They believe that for optimal health—to get beyond simply meeting basic nutritional needs—we should be consuming double, if not triple, the recommended amount. Some people—those who strength train, for instance—certainly benefit from increased intake. But for the average person, most experts don't see the point in going wild with protein, as my colleague Katherine J. Wu has written. What makes protein so appealing is that it has been offered as an answer for lots of people's dietary goals. Want to build muscle? Eat protein. Want to feel fuller for longer? Eat protein. Want to lose weight? Eat protein. The nutrient can indeed help with all of those, but sometimes, the claims turn absurd. Cargill, the food giant, recently suggested that protein might help solve broken marriages: 'Protein helps individuals become better parents, partners and employees,' the company wrote in a report this spring. In other words, protein has become synonymous with 'healthy.' The message seems to be resonating: Last year, 71 percent of American adults said they were trying to consume more of it. For food companies, adding protein to virtually everything is an easy way to make their products more alluring. No Starbucks executive is going to suggest a new line of 'fat enhanced' cold foam or iced tea with extra carbs. But extra protein—sure. And that's how we end up in a world of protein mania. The protein shake has given way to protein coffees and protein matchas and protein energy drinks and protein sodas. The protein bar has similarly descended into madness: Last week, Hershey's announced a 'Double Chocolate flavored protein bar' that looks like its normal chocolate bar (Hoffman would be proud). For the purists, there's the recently launched David bar, named after Michelangelo's, which bills itself as 'the most effective portable protein on this planet.' You can eat protein-fortified vanilla glazed donuts for breakfast, top your double cheeseburger with protein-laced ketchup, and finish the day with protein powder mixed with melatonin that promises a good night's sleep. If you're suspicious of these products, it's for good reason. Shoppers might think that certain foods are healthier now that they have a protein label slapped on them. Some of the new products are truly good for you—but eating a ton of protein-packed candy (or even just lots of red meat) comes with health risks that could offset whatever dubious benefit all that added protein might provide. A Snickers bar with 20 grams of protein is still a Snickers bar. By the time I finished my protein dinner, I was starting to feel bloated. Still, I wasn't quite done. I cued up the trailer for Protein, a film that debuted in U.K. cinemas last weekend. The movie tells the story of 'a gym-obsessed serial killer' who 'murders and eats a local drug dealer' for—what else?—protein. I took a bite of a protein-packed double-chocolate cookie and hit 'Play.'
