Latest news with #LeilaMyrick
New York Times
05-04-2025
- Health
- New York Times
As Measles Spreads, Some Doctors Are Seeing the Virus for the First Time
Until this year, Dr. Leila Myrick had never seen a case of measles. She doesn't remember professors in medical school talking about the virus. When she saw photos of the characteristic red rash on practice board exams, she flipped back through her textbooks to figure out what it was. 'Most practicing doctors, in today's day and age, are not going to see it in real life,' she said. But in the past few months, Dr. Myrick, a family medicine doctor in Seminole, Texas, has treated about 20 people with measles. She is likely to see more cases, as a raging outbreak that has infected 481 people in Texas and killed one child continues to spread. In Texas, New Mexico and other parts of the country where cases have emerged, health care workers like Dr. Myrick are confronting the highly contagious virus for the first time. On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 607 confirmed cases of measles in the U.S. this year — more than double the number of cases seen in all of 2024. 'The generation of physicians who are currently, for the most part, treating patients haven't actually seen what a measles case looks like other than from a textbook or a video,' said Dr. Andy Lubell, chief medical officer of True North Pediatrics in Pennsylvania, where a physician diagnosed the practice's first ever measles case this March. The United States declared measles eliminated in 2000. Cases still pop up around the country each year, sometimes seeding larger outbreaks. But public health experts worry that this year, measles could become more common in more places. The virus is spreading rapidly in some parts of the country, and vaccination rates nationwide have been falling for years. 'I remember learning about measles, German measles, all these things,' said Dr. Seth Coombs, a doctor at the Lovington Medical Clinic in New Mexico who saw his first measles case this year. 'But you just don't see them. And so like anything, if you don't use it, you lose it.' Measles can sometimes be hard to recognize at first, especially if a doctor doesn't think to look for it. The infection causes a telltale red rash, but it can take days to appear. Before that, someone with measles might have only a fever, cough, a runny nose and red, watery eyes — symptoms that mimic the signs of many other viral infections. 'We see anywhere from 120 to 200 patients in the emergency department each day,' said Dr. Michael Koster, director of the division of pediatric infectious diseases at Hasbro Children's in Rhode Island. 'And probably 70 percent of them are kids coming in with fever.' In January, Dr. Koster said, the hospital's emergency room staff treated a baby who was dehydrated and had a fever, and then sent the family home. Days later, the infant returned, still with a high fever. It was only on the second visit that doctors realized the baby had measles. Even when people do present with a rash, doctors who aren't familiar with measles cases or don't have the infection at the top of their minds could confuse it for an allergic reaction to medication, said Dr. Laraine Washer, an infectious disease doctor at Michigan Medicine. Recognizing measles quickly matters, in large part because doctors want to isolate patients who might be contagious. Measles can linger in the air for two hours after an infected person leaves the room. If someone with the virus shows up in an emergency room unmasked, they can spread the virus widely. And prompt care is important, too. Doctors confirm a diagnosis with laboratory tests and work to ease symptoms, often using medications to lower a fever and ensuring patients stay hydrated to counteract lost fluids. They also watch closely for complications: About one in every 20 children develops pneumonia, which is the most common cause of measles deaths in young children. Providers also monitor for brain swelling, which can occur in rare cases and lead to hearing and vision loss, intellectual disabilities and permanent neurological damage. Doctors are now working to quickly get each other back up to speed. At UCLA Health, attending physicians lecture residents and medical students on how to spot signs of an infection that are harder to recognize, like small white dots that can show up inside an infected patient's cheeks. Dr. Sanchi Malhotra, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at UCLA Health, said she has been showing colleagues photos of the subtle differences in measles rashes across a variety of skin tones. These efforts have felt all the more urgent since two people with measles passed through Los Angeles International Airport, said Dr. Ishminder Kaur, a pediatric infectious diseases physician at the UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital. 'We want to teach everybody possible now,' she said, 'before somebody misses a patient and then ends up bringing them to the emergency room full of other immunocompromised patients.'
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
This young Texas doctor only read about measles. Now she's a leading expert amid outbreak.
Dr. Leila Myrick had only read about measles in medical school before a girl with the telltale rash turned up in her West Texas emergency room in late January. The child, who had no immunity to the highly contagious disease but had an underlying respiratory condition, would become one of the first known cases in Gaines County, the epicenter of the nation's largest outbreak, in six years. Nearly 160 known people have been infected since, including 22 people who have been hospitalized. And last week, a school-aged child with no underlying conditions died, marking the first measles death in a decade. The outbreak spread across rural counties and is now suspected to have caused an outbreak nearby in New Mexico. Myrick, a 38-year-old family medicine and obstetrics physician in the tiny town of Seminole, looked back to medical texts to learn more about the disease, once thought to be nearing eradication in the U.S. Now, she's treated nearly a dozen cases and counting. In just over a month's time, the rural doctor has become one of the nation's only doctors with firsthand experience of how infectious, and serious, measles is. And she is an unwitting expert in a disease she never thought she'd treat. 'Now we're literally seeing when you don't vaccinate, this is what happens,' Myrick said. Since vaccination rates have dropped across the U.S., doctors and health staff across the country are rethinking preventable diseases such as measles that hadn't been seen in generations. The U.S. declared measles eliminated in 2000. But American immunization rates have decreased in schools — which normally require vaccines for attendance — below the 95% herd immunity threshold needed to prevent outbreaks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drops have been attributed to distrust and misinformation around public health and vaccination that led to increases in medical or religious exemptions. 'Measles is the tip of the iceberg,' said Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, chief of the infectious diseases division at Brigham and Women's Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School. 'There are other vaccine-preventable illness that we could see recurring, which could also have catastrophic consequences.' In Gaines County, just over 80% kindergartners were vaccinated against measles last school year. In the county, Loop Independent School District, with about 150 students, had less than half of students vaccinated. As of Tuesday, over 100 of Texas' 159 cases were in Gaines County. Most cases are in children, predominantly among those who are school-aged. All but five cases were among people who weren't vaccinated or had no known vaccination status. Five years ago, Myrick moved from her hometown of Atlanta — after studying at Emory School of Medicine and earning a doctorate in neuroscience in addition to her medical degree — to Seminole, where peanuts, oil, natural gas and cotton dominate the Texas plains. Instead of Atlanta's famed research institutions, including CDC headquarters, Myrick sought to practice treating families as a rural doctor. She moved her family to Seminole, population 7,231, where she liked the diversity. It is a mix of white, Mexican and Mennonite families and sits about 80 miles southwest of Lubbock. She and her husband are raising two children, ages 5 and 8, who attend local schools. Her in-laws live across the street. Seminole is like a village, she said. People look out for each other and their children. Her commute to work is a 3-minute drive with one traffic light − short enough that she doesn't even bother to turn on the radio. At her local grocery store, people stop her in the aisles with medical questions. She urges them to schedule an appointment so she can examine them. Before the outbreak, Myrick heard many concerns about vaccines, including in Gaines County's Mennonite community, where the measles first appeared in late January. At the family clinic, parents told Myrick that no one got measles anymore, so there was no need to vaccinate their children. And it only caused mild illness, they said. Others argued vaccines cause harm, despite the vaccine showing decades of safety. As their family doctor, she recommended they get the vaccine, which is safe and effective. Such claims have helped to allow measles to return with force. Health experts cite statements made by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who previously advocated against the measles vaccine for years and has contradicted guidance from his own health agencies. In the current outbreak, Kennedy has downplayed measles outbreaks and the severity of disease and has made incorrect statements about the current outbreak, said Dr. Richard Besser, former acting director of the CDC who is now president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. A recent op-ed by Kennedy called for parents to consult with health providers about vaccination, adding the decision to vaccinate is a "personal one." 'We have conditions here that are so, so highly preventable that we're going to see come back because we have some leaders who don't believe in science,' Besser said. Pediatricians and family doctors now should learn about diseases relegated to history, Besser added. They should ensure they know what measles, polio and different types of meningitis look like. They should also understand isolation protocols for these illnesses. Around a fifth of unvaccinated people who get infected with measles end up hospitalized. Children who contract measles can develop pneumonia, the most common cause of death from measles, or brain inflammation that can lead to hearing loss or developmental delays. Death occurs in around 1 to 3 in 1,000 infected children. The best defense against measles, by far, is vaccination, said Besser, a trained pediatrician. The full two-dose series, first administered around a year old, is 97% effective against measles. Just one shot provides 93% protection. Measles is highly infectious, spreading through contact with droplets released from coughing, sneezing or talking. Measles can stay in a room or on surfaces two hours after a sick person has left. One contagious person can infect 18 others around them who aren't immunized. A fever, cough or a rash can be a variety of different issues. But doctors can't afford to miss a measles diagnosis, said Dr. James Cutrell, an associate professor at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, in Dallas. Given how contagious measles is, he said, the importance of identifying it early in order to isolate the patient, test them and confirm if it's measles is crucial to stopping the spread. Another concern is that symptoms develop typically a week or two after exposure. People can spread measles even when they're not showing symptoms. Myrick saw this firsthand. In late January, the infected girl arrived in the emergency room with an underlying respiratory condition that put her at increased risk from the potentially deadly virus. After an emergency physician diagnosed her with measles, Myrick went to her medical texts to look up the disease to treat the girl. She recalled the blotchy, red spots covering the girl's body from head to toe. The child was placed in isolation, with hospital staff in full gowns and masks. Through the course of the child's stay, her rash changed to smaller red dots. Myrick thought she would be the only case. 'We took every precaution we could to try to contain it and keep it isolated to just that one patient,' she said. 'And it didn't work. It didn't work at all.' At first, the outbreak centered in the region's Mennonite community, which had been under-vaccinated with entire families infected. Myrick and staff have now seen cases among Latino infants too young to be vaccinated but facing serious illness. Pregnant women, who are at particular risk of miscarriage or premature birth from infection, are also at risk. She expects more cases in the community. Many families call describing measles symptoms, but they won't get tested, and they won't get treatment unless infections worsen. Outside of Gaines, the outbreak has spread in eight other counties, with exposures hundreds of miles away in and around San Antonio. Officials in New Mexico suspect their outbreak, among nine people infected, is linked to the Texas outbreak just across state lines. Beyond Texas and New Mexico, nearby states have much lower vaccination rates than herd immunity needed to prevent outbreaks. By comparison, Texas and New Mexico had two-dose vaccination rates among kindergartners at 94.3% and 95%, respectively. But surrounding states — including Arizona, Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma — had immunization rates below 90%, CDC data from last school year showed. 'A hope and a prayer doesn't just make it go away,' said Dr. Kisha Davis, a board member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and a health officer in Maryland. Her health department, in Montgomery County, saw one measles case a year ago in an unvaccinated person. Thanks to high immunization rates, an outbreak didn't occur, she said. 'We need to continue to be vigilant.' In Seminole, a wooden sign read 'MEASLES TESTING' across from the local health department. In addition to testing, officials have expanded vaccination sites. More people are showing up to get vaccinated, including those that once swore off the shots, said Myrick, who recently became chief medical officer for the town's hospital. Others still don't believe in vaccines. Myrick said her children worry about catching measles. Their classmates have contracted the disease, and her children are scared about getting a rash. Both of her children are vaccinated, she reminds them. They don't need to be afraid. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas measles outbreak: Young doctor quickly becomes' nation's expert
USA Today
06-03-2025
- Health
- USA Today
This young Texas doctor only read about measles. Now she's a leading expert amid outbreak.
This young Texas doctor only read about measles. Now she's a leading expert amid outbreak. Show Caption Hide Caption At least one dead as dozens infected in multi-state measles outbreak A measles outbreak has infected dozens in multiple states, with at least one reported child death in Texas. Dr. Leila Myrick had only read about measles in medical school before a girl with the telltale rash turned up in her West Texas emergency room in late January. The child, who had no immunity to the highly contagious disease but had an underlying respiratory condition, would become one of the first known cases in Gaines County, the epicenter of the nation's largest outbreak, in six years. Nearly 160 known people have been infected since, including 22 people who have been hospitalized. And last week, a school-aged child with no underlying conditions died, marking the first measles death in a decade. The outbreak spread across rural counties and is now suspected to have caused an outbreak nearby in New Mexico. Myrick, a 38-year-old family medicine and obstetrics physician in the tiny town of Seminole, looked back to medical texts to learn more about the disease, once thought to be nearing eradication in the U.S. Now, she's treated nearly a dozen cases and counting. In just over a month's time, the rural doctor has become one of the nation's only doctors with firsthand experience of how infectious, and serious, measles is. And she is an unwitting expert in a disease she never thought she'd treat. 'Now we're literally seeing when you don't vaccinate, this is what happens,' Myrick said. Since vaccination rates have dropped across the U.S., doctors and health staff across the country are rethinking preventable diseases such as measles that hadn't been seen in generations. The U.S. declared measles eliminated in 2000. But American immunization rates have decreased in schools — which normally require vaccines for attendance — below the 95% herd immunity threshold needed to prevent outbreaks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drops have been attributed to distrust and misinformation around public health and vaccination that led to increases in medical or religious exemptions. 'Measles is the tip of the iceberg,' said Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, chief of the infectious diseases division at Brigham and Women's Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School. 'There are other vaccine-preventable illness that we could see recurring, which could also have catastrophic consequences.' In Gaines County, just over 80% kindergartners were vaccinated against measles last school year. In the county, Loop Independent School District, with about 150 students, had less than half of students vaccinated. As of Tuesday, over 100 of Texas' 159 cases were in Gaines County. Most cases are in children, predominantly among those who are school-aged. All but five cases were among people who weren't vaccinated or had no known vaccination status. From Atlanta to rural health Five years ago, Myrick moved from her hometown of Atlanta — after studying at Emory School of Medicine and earning a doctorate in neuroscience in addition to her medical degree — to Seminole, where peanuts, oil, natural gas and cotton dominate the Texas plains. Instead of Atlanta's famed research institutions, including CDC headquarters, Myrick sought to practice treating families as a rural doctor. She moved her family to Seminole, population 7,231, where she liked the diversity. It is a mix of white, Mexican and Mennonite families and sits about 80 miles southwest of Lubbock. She and her husband are raising two children, ages 5 and 8, who attend local schools. Her in-laws live across the street. Seminole is like a village, she said. People look out for each other and their children. Her commute to work is a 3-minute drive with one traffic light − short enough that she doesn't even bother to turn on the radio. At her local grocery store, people stop her in the aisles with medical questions. She urges them to schedule an appointment so she can examine them. Before the outbreak, Myrick heard many concerns about vaccines, including in Gaines County's Mennonite community, where the measles first appeared in late January. At the family clinic, parents told Myrick that no one got measles anymore, so there was no need to vaccinate their children. And it only caused mild illness, they said. Others argued vaccines cause harm, despite the vaccine showing decades of safety. As their family doctor, she recommended they get the vaccine, which is safe and effective. Hesitancy, misinformation on measles vaccine Such claims have helped to allow measles to return with force. Health experts cite statements made by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who previously advocated against the measles vaccine for years and has contradicted guidance from his own health agencies. In the current outbreak, Kennedy has downplayed measles outbreaks and the severity of disease and has made incorrect statements about the current outbreak, said Dr. Richard Besser, former acting director of the CDC who is now president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. A recent op-ed by Kennedy called for parents to consult with health providers about vaccination, adding the decision to vaccinate is a "personal one." 'We have conditions here that are so, so highly preventable that we're going to see come back because we have some leaders who don't believe in science,' Besser said. Pediatricians and family doctors now should learn about diseases relegated to history, Besser added. They should ensure they know what measles, polio and different types of meningitis look like. They should also understand isolation protocols for these illnesses. Around a fifth of unvaccinated people who get infected with measles end up hospitalized. Children who contract measles can develop pneumonia, the most common cause of death from measles, or brain inflammation that can lead to hearing loss or developmental delays. Death occurs in around 1 to 3 in 1,000 infected children. The best defense against measles, by far, is vaccination, said Besser, a trained pediatrician. The full two-dose series, first administered around a year old, is 97% effective against measles. Just one shot provides 93% protection. Measles is highly infectious, spreading through contact with droplets released from coughing, sneezing or talking. Measles can stay in a room or on surfaces two hours after a sick person has left. One contagious person can infect 18 others around them who aren't immunized. With a measles diagnosis, timing is critical A fever, cough or a rash can be a variety of different issues. But doctors can't afford to miss a measles diagnosis, said Dr. James Cutrell, an associate professor at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, in Dallas. Given how contagious measles is, he said, the importance of identifying it early in order to isolate the patient, test them and confirm if it's measles is crucial to stopping the spread. Another concern is that symptoms develop typically a week or two after exposure. People can spread measles even when they're not showing symptoms. Myrick saw this firsthand. In late January, the infected girl arrived in the emergency room with an underlying respiratory condition that put her at increased risk from the potentially deadly virus. After an emergency physician diagnosed her with measles, Myrick went to her medical texts to look up the disease to treat the girl. She recalled the blotchy, red spots covering the girl's body from head to toe. The child was placed in isolation, with hospital staff in full gowns and masks. Through the course of the child's stay, her rash changed to smaller red dots. Myrick thought she would be the only case. 'We took every precaution we could to try to contain it and keep it isolated to just that one patient,' she said. 'And it didn't work. It didn't work at all.' At first, the outbreak centered in the region's Mennonite community, which had been under-vaccinated with entire families infected. Myrick and staff have now seen cases among Latino infants too young to be vaccinated but facing serious illness. Pregnant women, who are at particular risk of miscarriage or premature birth from infection, are also at risk. She expects more cases in the community. Many families call describing measles symptoms, but they won't get tested, and they won't get treatment unless infections worsen. Outside of Gaines, the outbreak has spread in eight other counties, with exposures hundreds of miles away in and around San Antonio. Officials in New Mexico suspect their outbreak, among nine people infected, is linked to the Texas outbreak just across state lines. 'Hope and prayer' won't end outbreak Beyond Texas and New Mexico, nearby states have much lower vaccination rates than herd immunity needed to prevent outbreaks. By comparison, Texas and New Mexico had two-dose vaccination rates among kindergartners at 94.3% and 95%, respectively. But surrounding states — including Arizona, Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma — had immunization rates below 90%, CDC data from last school year showed. 'A hope and a prayer doesn't just make it go away,' said Dr. Kisha Davis, a board member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and a health officer in Maryland. Her health department, in Montgomery County, saw one measles case a year ago in an unvaccinated person. Thanks to high immunization rates, an outbreak didn't occur, she said. 'We need to continue to be vigilant.' In Seminole, a wooden sign read 'MEASLES TESTING' across from the local health department. In addition to testing, officials have expanded vaccination sites. More people are showing up to get vaccinated, including those that once swore off the shots, said Myrick, who recently became chief medical officer for the town's hospital. Others still don't believe in vaccines. Myrick said her children worry about catching measles. Their classmates have contracted the disease, and her children are scared about getting a rash. Both of her children are vaccinated, she reminds them. They don't need to be afraid.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
This young Texas doctor only read about measles. Now she's a leading expert amid outbreak.
Dr. Leila Myrick had only read about measles in medical school before a girl with the telltale rash turned up in her West Texas emergency room in late January. The child, who had no immunity to the highly contagious disease but had an underlying respiratory condition, would become one of the first known cases in Gaines County, the epicenter of the nation's largest outbreak, in six years. Nearly 160 known people have been infected since, including 22 people who have been hospitalized. And last week, a school-aged child with no underlying conditions died, marking the first measles death in a decade. The outbreak spread across rural counties and is now suspected to have caused an outbreak nearby in New Mexico. Myrick, a 38-year-old family medicine and obstetrics physician in the tiny town of Seminole, looked back to medical texts to learn more about the disease, once thought to be nearing eradication in the U.S. Now, she's treated nearly a dozen cases and counting. In just over a month's time, the rural doctor has become one of the nation's only doctors with firsthand experience of how infectious, and serious, measles is. And she is an unwitting expert in a disease she never thought she'd treat. 'Now we're literally seeing when you don't vaccinate, this is what happens,' Myrick said. Since vaccination rates have dropped across the U.S., doctors and health staff across the country are rethinking preventable diseases such as measles that hadn't been seen in generations. The U.S. declared measles eliminated in 2000. But American immunization rates have decreased in schools — which normally require vaccines for attendance — below the 95% herd immunity threshold needed to prevent outbreaks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drops have been attributed to distrust and misinformation around public health and vaccination that led to increases in medical or religious exemptions. 'Measles is the tip of the iceberg,' said Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, chief of the infectious diseases division at Brigham and Women's Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School. 'There are other vaccine-preventable illness that we could see recurring, which could also have catastrophic consequences.' In Gaines County, just over 80% kindergartners were vaccinated against measles last school year. In the county, Loop Independent School District, with about 150 students, had less than half of students vaccinated. As of Tuesday, over 100 of Texas' 159 cases were in Gaines County. Most cases are in children, predominantly among those who are school-aged. All but five cases were among people who weren't vaccinated or had no known vaccination status. Five years ago, Myrick moved from her hometown of Atlanta — after studying at Emory School of Medicine and earning a doctorate in neuroscience in addition to her medical degree — to Seminole, where peanuts, oil, natural gas and cotton dominate the Texas plains. Instead of Atlanta's famed research institutions, including CDC headquarters, Myrick sought to practice treating families as a rural doctor. She moved her family to Seminole, population 7,231, where she liked the diversity. It is a mix of white, Mexican and Mennonite families and sits about 80 miles southwest of Lubbock. She and her husband are raising two children, ages 5 and 8, who attend local schools. Her in-laws live across the street. Seminole is like a village, she said. People look out for each other and their children. Her commute to work is a 3-minute drive with one traffic light − short enough that she doesn't even bother to turn on the radio. At her local grocery store, people stop her in the aisles with medical questions. She urges them to schedule an appointment so she can examine them. Before the outbreak, Myrick heard many concerns about vaccines, including in Gaines County's Mennonite community, where the measles first appeared in late January. At the family clinic, parents told Myrick that no one got measles anymore, so there was no need to vaccinate their children. And it only caused mild illness, they said. Others argued vaccines cause harm, despite the vaccine showing decades of safety. As their family doctor, she recommended they get the vaccine, which is safe and effective. Such claims have helped to allow measles to return with force. Health experts cite statements made by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who previously advocated against the measles vaccine for years and has contradicted guidance from his own health agencies. In the current outbreak, Kennedy has downplayed measles outbreaks and the severity of disease and has made incorrect statements about the current outbreak, said Dr. Richard Besser, former acting director of the CDC who is now president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. A recent op-ed by Kennedy called for parents to consult with health providers about vaccination, adding the decision to vaccinate is a "personal one." 'We have conditions here that are so, so highly preventable that we're going to see come back because we have some leaders who don't believe in science,' Besser said. Pediatricians and family doctors now should learn about diseases relegated to history, Besser added. They should ensure they know what measles, polio and different types of meningitis look like. They should also understand isolation protocols for these illnesses. Around a fifth of unvaccinated people who get infected with measles end up hospitalized. Children who contract measles can develop pneumonia, the most common cause of death from measles, or brain inflammation that can lead to hearing loss or developmental delays. Death occurs in around 1 to 3 in 1,000 infected children. The best defense against measles, by far, is vaccination, said Besser, a trained pediatrician. The full two-dose series, first administered around a year old, is 97% effective against measles. Just one shot provides 93% protection. Measles is highly infectious, spreading through contact with droplets released from coughing, sneezing or talking. Measles can stay in a room or on surfaces two hours after a sick person has left. One contagious person can infect 18 others around them who aren't immunized. A fever, cough or a rash can be a variety of different issues. But doctors can't afford to miss a measles diagnosis, said Dr. James Cutrell, an associate professor at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, in Dallas. Given how contagious measles is, he said, the importance of identifying it early in order to isolate the patient, test them and confirm if it's measles is crucial to stopping the spread. Another concern is that symptoms develop typically a week or two after exposure. People can spread measles even when they're not showing symptoms. Myrick saw this firsthand. In late January, the infected girl arrived in the emergency room with an underlying respiratory condition that put her at increased risk from the potentially deadly virus. After an emergency physician diagnosed her with measles, Myrick went to her medical texts to look up the disease to treat the girl. She recalled the blotchy, red spots covering the girl's body from head to toe. The child was placed in isolation, with hospital staff in full gowns and masks. Through the course of the child's stay, her rash changed to smaller red dots. Myrick thought she would be the only case. 'We took every precaution we could to try to contain it and keep it isolated to just that one patient,' she said. 'And it didn't work. It didn't work at all.' At first, the outbreak centered in the region's Mennonite community, which had been under-vaccinated with entire families infected. Myrick and staff have now seen cases among Latino infants too young to be vaccinated but facing serious illness. Pregnant women, who are at particular risk of miscarriage or premature birth from infection, are also at risk. She expects more cases in the community. Many families call describing measles symptoms, but they won't get tested, and they won't get treatment unless infections worsen. Outside of Gaines, the outbreak has spread in eight other counties, with exposures hundreds of miles away in and around San Antonio. Officials in New Mexico suspect their outbreak, among nine people infected, is linked to the Texas outbreak just across state lines. Beyond Texas and New Mexico, nearby states have much lower vaccination rates than herd immunity needed to prevent outbreaks. By comparison, Texas and New Mexico had two-dose vaccination rates among kindergartners at 94.3% and 95%, respectively. But surrounding states — including Arizona, Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma — had immunization rates below 90%, CDC data from last school year showed. 'A hope and a prayer doesn't just make it go away,' said Dr. Kisha Davis, a board member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and a health officer in Maryland. Her health department, in Montgomery County, saw one measles case a year ago in an unvaccinated person. Thanks to high immunization rates, an outbreak didn't occur, she said. 'We need to continue to be vigilant.' In Seminole, a wooden sign read 'MEASLES TESTING' across from the local health department. In addition to testing, officials have expanded vaccination sites. More people are showing up to get vaccinated, including those that once swore off the shots, said Myrick, who recently became chief medical officer for the town's hospital. Others still don't believe in vaccines. Myrick said her children worry about catching measles. Their classmates have contracted the disease, and her children are scared about getting a rash. Both of her children are vaccinated, she reminds them. They don't need to be afraid. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas measles outbreak: Young doctor quickly becomes' nation's expert
CNN
06-03-2025
- Health
- CNN
Inside the perfect storm of the deadly measles outbreak in Texas
Gaines County is a vast, flat expanse far in the west of Texas: more than 1,500 square miles of sparsely populated farmland. And right now, this is the epicenter of a measles outbreak the likes of which this state hasn't seen in more than 30 years. Many here say the virus has spread quickly among the Mennonites, a tight-knit Anabaptist community that works much of this land. 'That's the biggest cohort of the population that is unvaccinated,' said Dr. Leila Myrick, a physician on the front lines fighting this highly contagious and potentially fatal infection, which had been declared eliminated from the Unites States in 2000. 'The predominant people that we're seeing with it are in the Mennonite community. But it's not only them.' There are now 159 identified measles cases across nine West Texas counties. A combination of a large, vaccine-hesitant religious community, some similar skepticism in the rest of the local population and laws that allow them to make a choice in vaccinating their children appear to be the combination fueling this spread. Many older Mennonites had to get vaccinated when they became American citizens after moving here from Mexico, starting in the 1970s. But many younger Mennonites are now choosing not to vaccinate their children, according to Tina Siemens, who runs a museum charting her people's centuries-long flight from religious persecution in Europe and their years here in West Texas. 'It's not for religious reasons,' Siemens told CNN while standing in a museum replica of her grandparents' spartan bedroom. She said there are no mandates in the Mennonite faith against vaccinations. Like in any other community, she says, they research the issue and come to an educated decision — a decision that is squarely in line with the centuries-old Mennonite tradition of self-sufficiency. 'Because they were self-sustaining,' Siemens explained. 'They did not go to the local doctor for everything, because they had a home remedy.' Siemens is now translating local health department offers of free vaccines into German because some in her community do not speak English. But her translations appear to be falling on some deaf ears. Even still, she feels that her community is being unfairly maligned over this measles outbreak, which has claimed one life: a young girl who Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, said was a member of the Mennonite community. The state says the child was unvaccinated and had no underlying health conditions. 'I feel that it is so much negativity directed at the Mennonite community,' she said. 'It's really not fair when there are others that choose the same pathway.' The vaccine skeptics of Gaines County aren't only found in the Mennonite community. In the public schools - a reflection of the broader community - more than 17% of kids are unvaccinated because they have 'conscientious exemptions.' According to state data, that figure is among the highest in Texas. And Texas is one of only 16 states in the nation that allow a vaccine opt-out for purely personal beliefs, rather than religious or medical reasons. 'When you get a low enough vaccination rate, that's when outbreaks of measles can happen,' Myrick said. 'Over the years, people have been more and more reluctant to get vaccines. And so the vaccination rates have been declining.' Right now, vaccinations are available for free, seven days a week, in Seminole, the dusty county seat. 'We're a local radio station. We try to promote the vaccines,' said Dave Fisher, news director at local radio station KSEM/KIKZ. He claims there is only a small group of skeptics in the English-speaking community, and he says he understands some of their reasoning. 'We were lied to by the federal government about Covid,' Fisher, 81, told CNN while sitting around a table bristling with microphones where he hosts a weekly radio show called 'Doc Talk.' 'Now, measles is not the same thing. That vaccine has been tested. It is tried and true for years. … The Covid vaccine was rushed,' he said, which eroded trust. Local parents who have posted on social media about their decisions not to vaccinate their children told CNN that they've researched the issue and fear that the vaccine is more dangerous than the measles itself. And, they say, they believe in personal and medical freedoms. Myrick asks her patients who choose not to vaccinate why they make that decision. 'It can vary,' she told CNN. 'From their parents didn't vaccinate them … or it could be that they read certain things from wherever on the internet: association with autism or association with vaccine injury. A lot of different misbeliefs.' There's a warm, small-town vibe in Seminole, with its one long and windy main street dotted with agricultural product purveyors and friendly little eateries abuzz with chatter in English, German and Spanish. That, Fisher says, might be driving the spread. 'The German community interacts with the regular community, and if there is somebody out there that has not had the vaccine, obviously, they could catch the measles,' he said. 'I'm not talking about maligning them,' he added, but 'I think it started there.' Perhaps a few hundred vaccine skeptics – Mennonites and others – are now getting the vaccine as this outbreak spreads. 'Yesterday, I heard of a family that really encouraged the vaccine,' said Siemens, the museum curator. 'And praise the Lord, we have that freedom here in America.' CNN's Ashley Killough contributed to this report.
