Texas measles outbreak worsens with first death
The measles outbreak in West Texas has surged, causing the first reported measles death in about a decade.
State health officials confirmed at least 124 cases across nine counties as of Tuesday since the outbreak began in late January.
Why it matters: Health departments in Central Texas are now warning about exposures of the highly contagious disease, signaling the outbreak may be spreading statewide.
The latest outbreak is the largest in Texas in 30 years.
The big picture: Measles cases have been reported in eight states this year, but most are in Texas, per the CDC.
Very few of the reported cases have occurred in people vaccinated against the disease.
The latest: Lubbock city officials confirmed Wednesday that an unvaccinated school-age child has died, marking the first reported measles death in the U.S. since 2015.
Texas reported 34 more measles cases this week compared with the previous report on Friday.
Eighteen patients have been hospitalized, per state health officials.
Only five of the patients were known to be vaccinated. The rest were either unvaccinated or their vaccination status was unknown.
Separately, two adult measles cases in Houston were reported in mid-January by the Houston Health Department, which said the infected people lived in the same household and had recently traveled internationally.
Those cases are not tied to the recent outbreak that started in West Texas.
State of play: An increasing number of Texas parents are opting out of vaccinating their children for personal or religious reasons.
In Harris County, 2.9% of kindergartners had a vaccine exemption in the 2022-23 school year, state health department data.
Some surrounding counties saw even higher kindergartner exemption rates in the 2022-23 school year: 4.87% in Montgomery County, 4.7% in Austin County, 3.82% in Galveston County, 3.32% in Brazoria County.
During the 2023-24 school year, 94.5% of kindergartners and 96.8% of seventh graders in the Houston region had received the MMR vaccine, per Houston Public Media.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
2 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
Washington Post
3 hours ago
- Washington Post
US measles count now tops 1,200 cases, and Iowa announces an outbreak
The U.S. logged fewer than 20 measles cases this week, though Iowa announced the state's first outbreak Thursday and Georgia confirmed its second Wednesday. There have been 1,214 confirmed measles cases this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. Health officials in Texas, where the nation's biggest outbreak raged during the late winter and spring, confirmed six cases in the last week.
CBS News
6 hours ago
- CBS News
Excessive drinking linked to jump in high blood pressure deaths during COVID pandemic, CDC report says
Excessive drinking was linked to a jump in high blood pressure deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the report, out Friday, researchers found the estimated average number of hypertension deaths from excessive alcohol use was 51.6% higher in 2020 through 2021 than in 2016 through 2017. This increase amounted to about 21,137 deaths annually, compared to 13,941 for the respective time frames. The World Health Organization declared the COVID outbreak a pandemic in March 2020. In May 2023, it declared an end to the global pandemic emergency. The report also analyzed differences among sexes, finding that more than 60% of hypertension deaths caused by excessive drinking were among females — 61.2% during 2016 and 2017, and 62.8% during 2020 and 2021. During the 2020 through 2021 timeframe, the most recent years for which data is available, excessive alcohol use accounted for 1 in 5 hypertension deaths among females and 1 in 8 among males. The report looked at adults aged 20 and older using the CDC's Alcohol-Related Disease Impact, or ARDI, tool and mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System. The report comes as U.S. alcohol-related deaths have been increasing nationwide. Excessive alcohol use is a leading preventable cause of death in the United States, according to the CDC, with about 178,000 people dying from excessive drinking each year. Hypertension deaths linked to drinking, as analyzed in this report, are just a fraction of overall deaths caused by alcohol. Previous research has shown the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with increases in stress-related drinking and alcohol-related deaths, which didn't stop as things returned to normal. One 2024 study found drinking increases from 2018 to 2020 persisted into 2022, for example. This report is among the last to be published from the CDC's Division of Population Health team that studied alcohol mortality before they were laid off amid sweeping cuts by the Trump administration. The report also comes a week before the government is expected to announce updated dietary guidelines, including to long-standing recommendations about limiting alcohol consumption.
