12-04-2025
MCH hasn't seen large influx of measles
Apr. 11—Although measles cases are mounting statewide, Medical Center has only seen a handful of positive cases as of April 10, said Brenda Dalrymple, director of patient safety and infection prevention.
But there haven't been any admissions yet, Dalrymple said.
There are eight confirmed cases in Ector County. Of the three positive cases that MCH has seen, two were not vaccinated and one was.
The hospital serves a 17-county area, but the three were Ector County residents.
"The best prevention is the vaccine," Dalrymple said.
Other preventative measures include good hand hygiene, staying hydrated, eating a healthy diet and doing things to help keep your immune system up, she said.
Some people have talked about Vitamin A helping with measles, but Dalrymple said there isn't "actual scientific research to back that."
Vitamin A is used mainly for skin and helps cells repair faster.
Measles is very contagious and very airborne.
"It will stay suspended in the air for up to two hours after a positive measles person has been through that area. That's what makes it so contagious, that it stays around for so long. The exposure time is very short. You don't have to be exposed to it for a long period of time to get infected," Dalrymple said.
As of April 8, Ector County had eight confirmed cases of measles.
Three or more cases is considered an outbreak.
"We've reached some of the requirements for outbreak status. However, the state has not put us in outbreak status, so we're not considered an outbreak as of yet, but we are able to give emergency-use vaccines, the MMR, and we are now vaccinating (children at) 6 months," Health Department Director Brandy Garcia said April 8.
Dalrymple said the most vulnerable population are children below the age of 5 months.
"That's more of our high-risk population because they're too young to get the vaccine. And then, of course, there's the anti vaxxers that just choose not" to get the vaccine, Dalrymple said.
The county's vaccination rate is 93 or 94 percent. Dalrymple said.
"Of course, we've had so many people move in to the area over the last year or two, so I don't know what their vaccine status is," she added.
A measles outbreak has been discussed for the past couple of years just because of the population increase. Nationwide, the virus had been considered eradicated since 2000.
"It's becoming more accepted and more common for people not to get their vaccine," Dalrymple said.
People have their own strong beliefs and "a lot of it may be due to lack of education and doing their own research, but there's so much access to misinformation now. That's a big part of it," Dalrymple said.
"If you search something, you're going to find an article somewhere that is against it, even though there's a million other articles that support the vaccine, you're going to find that one that's telling you not to get it ... and I think it's just a lot of misinformation," she added. "And, of course, freedom of choice."
The first measles vaccines were available in 1963 and it has become more effective over time. Dalrymple noted that it has been proven to be safe and undergone "all sorts of testing."
There is a protocol for post-exposure. If you know you've been exposed and you are in a high-risk category there is a shot they can give you within the first 72 hours that offers some protection.
In March, The Immunization Partnership Chief Strategy Officer Rekha Lakshmanan said the epicenter of the outbreak in Gaines County has high immunization exemption rates and has had for years.
"If you look at the nine counties with confirmed cases. Sixty-seven (67) percent of those counties have school vaccine exemption rates above the state average," Lakshmanan said then.
She said this matters because the research shows that vaccine exemptions cluster geographically, in neighborhoods, in schools and "they tend to cluster in faith communities."
Tuberculosis crops up sometimes, she said.
"We see a couple cases a year. We haven't seen a significant increase," Dalrymple said.
She added that it has probably stayed the same for about the last 10 years.
On the average they test and follow about 150 to 200 cases a year, but true positives are probably less than 15 to 20 a year, Dalrymple said.
"I don't have those exact numbers, but ... the testing for tuberculosis ... takes a very long time because it's a slow growing bacteria. When we collect the specimen, we still have to wait six to eight weeks before we get a final result. We work a lot of them up, but not a lot of positives," she said.
TB is also airborne, but not as contagious as measles.
"You usually have to have a little bit more prolonged exposure to it," Dalrymple said.
It's usually passed along among family members that live in the same household, people that you're in close contact with for an extended amount of time.
If you have any TB bacteria in your body, it can be dormant or latent in your body for weeks, months, or even years, and you may not ever develop an active tuberculosis infection, Dalrymple said.
"We have to have actual sputum cultures that grow out for six to eight weeks. There are also some blood tests that we call the TB Gold, which we can send off, and we get those results ... usually (within) five to seven days. And again, that will tell you if you have any of the bacteria growing or (been) exposed to it, but it doesn't confirm an active case," she said.
