Latest news with #NinaMasters
Newsweek
23-05-2025
- Health
- Newsweek
Texas Sees Surge in Babies Getting Vaccinated: 'Really Scared'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Measles vaccination rates among babies in Texas have increased more than 30-fold in some instances as parents are "really scared" about an outbreak in the western portion of the state. Lara Anton, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services, told Newsweek that because of the West Texas outbreak, the agency recommended that infants living in or visiting outbreak-designated counties get an early (zero) dose of the measles vaccine at 6 to 11 months. Why It Matters In February, Texas experienced its biggest measles outbreak in about three decades. West Texas saw an influx of almost 50 cases, and health officials attributed the drastic uptick to a close-knit, undervaccinated Mennonite community. Cases have continued to rise in the months since, leading to hospitalizations and the deaths of two children. A sign outside the Lubbock Public Health facility in Texas on April 9. A sign outside the Lubbock Public Health facility in Texas on April To Know The ongoing situation has resulted in Texas parents being more proactive to vaccinate their babies than in years past. Truveta, a health care and analytics company, shared internal data showing that about 10 percent of 10-month-old children in Texas had received at least one measles vaccine in April alone—about 10.4-fold higher than the January 2024 to January 2025 average. Also in April, about 8.7 percent of 6-month-olds in Texas received a measles vaccine. That's a 31.7-fold increase compared to the 0.3 percent averaged between January 2024 and January 2025. In March and April, about 20.1 percent of all first measles vaccines were administered to children between 6 and 11 months—an 11.5-fold increase compared to 2019, when international and domestic outbreaks were ongoing. "It does show that parents really are scared, and that parents don't want to wait," Nina Masters, a senior applied research scientist at Truveta, told the Texas Tribune. "They don't want to wait 12 months to get their child vaccinated. They want to wait six months and one day, and they want to do it as soon as they can." Newsweek has contacted Truveta for comment. The Centers for Disease Control recommends the first measles vaccine (administered in the U.S. as the combined measles, mumps, rubella vaccine, or MMR or MMRV) to be issued between 12 and 15 months, with a later dose around kindergarten age—i.e., ages 4 to 6. However, Truveta data from 2020 to 2024 found a "stark decline" in the number of kids overall receiving the vaccine on time. Anton said children who received an early dose of the measles vaccine should still get the two regularly scheduled doses, meaning they would ultimately get three doses of MMR—with the second dose coming at least 28 days after the early dose. DSHS data showed that between January 1 and April 30, 51,275 doses were administered—including 44,168 to children 12 to 15 months. In 2019, the annual total was 54,184. However, the Texas immunization registry requires people to opt in. As most Texans have not done so, the overall count of early MMR vaccines administered during this time period could be different, the DSHS spokesperson added. DSHS, which provides two weekly updates on cases, said on May 20 that 722 cases had been confirmed statewide since late January. Less than 1 percent, or fewer than 10 of the confirmed cases, are estimated to be actively infectious since their rash onset date was less than a week ago. Individuals are described as infectious four days prior to and four days after rash onset. Of those 722 cases, 92 of them have led to hospitalizations. Two children have died, including an 8-year-old girl in Lubbock. She died of "measles pulmonary failure" in April at UMC Health System. DSHS said the following counties had ongoing measles transmission: Cochran, Dawson, Gaines, Lamar, Lubbock, Terry and Yoakum. On Tuesday, Dallam was removed from the list of designated outbreak counties because it had been 42 days, or two incubation periods, since the last infectious case. There have been 15 documented measles cases outside the West Texas region this year. DSHS reported that of the 722 confirmed cases, 688 were found in unvaccinated individuals or those with an unknown vaccination status, while 19 individuals who received two-plus doses of the MMR vaccine were infected. What People Are Saying Lara Anton, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services, told Newsweek: "DSHS has been encouraging people to get vaccinated if they are not immune to measles because it is the best way to prevent illness and stop the virus from spreading." Miranda Yaver, an assistant professor of health policy and management at the University of Pittsburgh, told Newsweek: "We now have over 1,000 confirmed measles cases in the United States, and this is avoidable with vaccination, which we know to be safe and effective. We are seeing the proliferation of vaccine hesitancy, with a pronounced partisan split, extending well beyond the COVID vaccine. As secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has immense power and responsibility to promote vaccine safety and efficacy, especially amid these outbreaks that have resulted in some tragic deaths." Kala Hunter, a Texas mother of a 2-year-old son, told NBC News: "Being in the hotbed of the measles outbreak, it was a no-brainer. If it was safe to get him vaccinated early, we were going to protect him." What Happens Next DSHS said in its May 20 assessment, "Due to the highly contagious nature of this disease, additional cases are likely to occur in the outbreak area and the surrounding communities." The national conversation around vaccines is also set to continue. Earlier this month, when asked whether he would vaccinate his own children against diseases such as measles, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told the House Appropriations Committee: "My opinions about vaccines are irrelevant. I don't think people should be taking advice, medical advice from me. I don't want to give advice."
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
More Texas children are getting vaccinated early against measles
More Texas parents are opting to vaccinate their babies early against measles, nearly a 4.5-fold increase so far this year compared to 2019, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. From January through April, 7,107 children between the ages of 6 months and 11 months were vaccinated for measles, which is typically reserved for infants about to travel internationally or living in a measles outbreak area. Otherwise, doctors usually administer the first dose of the vaccine when they turn 1 year old. For the same period in 2019, only 1,591 children between 6 months old and 11 months old were vaccinated for measles. Researchers and public health officials attribute the rise to more awareness and the availability of the earlier vaccination option in a region where there have already been two deaths attributed to measles. They say parents are more fearful now. The increase comes as the state battles a measles outbreak in West Texas, where 722 cases have been reported, most of them involving children. It is the largest outbreak since 2000.. 'It does show that parents really are scared, and that parents don't want to wait,' said Nina Masters, a senior applied research scientist at Truveta, a Washington-based company that is studying Texas' vaccination data. 'They don't want to wait 12 months to get their child vaccinated. They want to wait six months and one day, and they want to do it as soon as they can.' And, since state data only reflects vaccine information parents voluntarily give to them, the number of babies receiving the vaccine early is probably higher. Masters' company estimates an 11-fold increase in the number of early measles vaccine shots in Texas between 2019 and 2025, according to a study released this week. The Truveta study found that in March and April of this year, 20% of all first measles vaccine doses given to 2-year-olds and younger were in babies who were 6 months old to 11 months old. 'This is a really big jump,' Masters said. Increased vaccine uptake is among the reasons local health officials have seen the number of new measles cases drop in recent days. Last week, only nine new cases were reported, the lowest number over a 7-day period since February. Other factors contributing to the slowdown include natural immunity, quick identification of cases by providers and public health workers, and more infected people staying home because of better measles awareness, officials say. Texas vaccine data typically comes with caveats because it is anything but complete. Even Truveta's vaccine data doesn't reflect statewide totals since they only access medical records kept by five major health systems in Texas: AdvanetHealth in Central Texas; Baylor Scott & White in Central Texas and Dallas-Fort Worth area; Providence, which operates in El Paso Lubbock and Waco; and Memorial Hermann and CommonSpirit, both in Houston. Together, they represent 90 hospitals and associated ambulatory/outpatient clinics. Most states automatically record every immunization given unless the patient decides to opt out of the reporting. Of the 64 immunization registries operating in the United States, 43 have immunization records of all patients unless that patient specifically opts out. But Texas is in the minority. Patients, or their parents, if they are a minor, have their vaccination data automatically excluded from the state's immunization registry unless they specifically opt in. So it's not clear what percentage of Texans are included in the state's immunization data. 'You would have to know the total number of people vaccinated to produce the percentage of vaccinated people who have opted into the registry,' said Lara Anton, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services. 'We don't know the total number of people who have been vaccinated.' The state's childhood vaccine schedule includes two measles-mumps-rubella shots by age six with the first administered once a child reaches their first birthday. Even if a child receives their shot early, doctors recommend they still follow the vaccine schedule and receive two more doses. Because children younger than one have less developed immune systems, the 'zero' or earlier dose is weaker than a regular vaccine and offers just enough protection to cover the child, but not enough to offer lifelong protection, said Katherine Wells, Lubbock's health director. Wells said if she had a 6-month-old child, she would have them vaccinated with an earlier dose. For the past few months, Texas health officials have asked parents to consider this earlier dose if they plan to travel or live in the outbreak area or plan to travel internationally. West Texas public health officials have posted flyers throughout the region and held press conferences and vaccination clinics to encourage more people to vaccinate against measles, which is the most effective way to prevent infection. Pediatricians in West Texas have been emailing and texting patients to let them know they can vaccinate children earlier than 12 months old. Lubbock, where 53 measles cases have been reported, is 75 miles from Gaines County, where the measles outbreak began in late January. Wells said Wednesday her department has distributed 500 more measles doses than they normally do this year, mostly to children. She said pediatricians in the area are responsible for about another 2,500 more than normal and private physicians have administered most of the early doses to babies. Measles, once considered eliminated from the United States, is highly contagious and can cause rash and flu-like symptoms but it has more serious complications like brain inflammation and pneumonia and can cause death. In Texas, two school-age girls have died from measles so far. 'I think this does really remind us and help normalize that even though we're in a climate of increased vaccine hesitancy and conversations about changing vaccine policies and vaccine access, the majority of parents still believe in vaccination and vaccinate their children,' Masters said. First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
More Babies Are Getting Vaccinated Early As Texas Measles Outbreak Continues
Texas's measles outbreak has grown to more than 700 cases since January, requiring the hospitalization of 92 people and leading to the deaths of two unvaccinated children. But, according to new data, more parents are taking a critical step to protect their youngest kids. According to Truveta, a health care data and analytics company, 20% of Texas children younger than 2 years old who got a measles vaccine received their measles vaccine early to help prevent the disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention usually recommends children get their measles vaccines starting at 1 year old, but amid the measles outbreak, the CDC said in March that children can get their measles vaccines starting at 6 months old. Truveta found that the percentage of children getting vaccinated starting at 6 months old in March and April 2025 markedly increased from 2019, when the U.S. had a measles outbreak with a total of 1,261 cases. Nina Masters, the senior applied research scientist at Truveta, told HuffPost that this data is good news. 'This means that parents are trying to protect their kids early,' she said. Texas has seen its worst measles outbreak in nearly 30 years. Measles, a viral respiratory illness, is one of the most contagious diseases, and a vaccine is the best protection against it, according to the CDC. But Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of Health and Human Services, has been at the forefront of spreading conspiracy theories about vaccines for years. After an unvaccinated 8-year-old Texas girl died of measles last month, Kennedy attended her funeral and then conceded that the combined measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccine is the most effective way to prevent the disease, though he continues to push alternative treatments and describe vaccination as an individual choice. Katherine Wells, director of public health for Lubbock, Texas' health department, did not respond to HuffPost's request for information, but she told NBC News in February that the city's health department has been vaccinating children from families who didn't believe in vaccines before. 'People are more and more nervous,' Wells told NBC News. 'We've vaccinated multiple kids that have never been vaccinated before, some from families that didn't believe in vaccines.' Truveta's data only included children who received care from a health care professional at least three times in their first year of life. But Texas' measles outbreak has largely affected the unvaccinated, like the Mennonites, an Anabaptist Christian group whose members are typically underimmunized. 'We do know that because we imposed some criteria that children [should] be seeing a provider three times in the first year of life, this does reflect a population that is seeking health care,' Masters said. 'So if individuals who are not vaccinating their children are also not seeking health care, we wouldn't expect those people to be included in the study.' Steven Nolt, professor of history and Anabaptist studies at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania, told ABC News in March that the Mennonites who live in Seminole, Texas, in the western part of the state — also known as Low German Mennonites — came from Mexico, where, from the 1920s to the 1980s, they were mostly isolated. 'My point is, the so-called Low German Mennonites from Mexico, now in west Texas, don't have that minimum baseline of mid-20th century vaccine acceptance that we see among Old Order Mennonites and Amish in the U.S. because the folks in Seminole missed the whole mid-century immunization push, as they weren't in the U.S. at that time,' Nolt told ABC News. Measles Cases In The U.S. Just Hit 1,000. RFK Jr. Still Isn't Taking It Seriously. RFK Jr. Tells CDC To Go All In On Bogus Vitamin 'Cures' For Measles RFK Jr. Spreads Misleading Measles Vaccine Claim Amid U.S. Outbreaks
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Measles fears in Texas cause flood of parents to seek vaccine causing vaccination rates to skyrocket
As the deadly measles outbreak in West Texas has continued to grow, parents have reportedly been racing to get their kids vaccinated. New data from the Electronic Health Record data analysis company Truveta has documented the surge, finding that the percentage of six-month-old children in Texas who got their shots in April increased by more than 30 times over last year's average. For 10-month-olds, the percentage increased by more than 10 times. The preliminary research findings have not been peer-reviewed. 'Our data show that starting in February 2025 and accelerating in March and April with the issuance of CDC's Health Alert Network about measles transmission on March 7, 2025, Texas parents are taking advantage of the early vaccine recommendation,' the company said in a news release alongside their findings. 'These results highlight that the outbreak is causing real concern for parents and changing vaccination behavior.' 'This is a huge increase,' Nina Masters, a senior scientist at Truveta and part of the research team, told NBC News. 'Just a really striking signal that vaccination behavior is changing.' In the months leading up to the outbreak fewer than 2 percent of Texas babies under a year old were vaccinated. Now, that figure has jumped to around 10 percent by the time the child reaches 10 months old. The analysis found that in more than 20 percent of all first measles vaccines in March and April were given to children between the ages of six and 11 months old: 11.5-times higher percentage than in 2019 during domestic outbreaks. The Texas Department of State Health Services told The Independent that it had data from the state's immunization registry showing a similar trend year over year. Lubbock's Kaia Hunter was one of the parents who took her child to get the shot. She told NBC News that she did not hesitate to get her 2-year-old son, Brady, fully vaccinated in March. 'Being in the hotbed of the measles outbreak,' said Hunter, 47, 'it was a no-brainer. If it was safe to get him vaccinated early, we were going to protect him.' The news comes amid falling child vaccination rates across the U.S., which have been tied to increasing vaccine hesitancy, the spread of misinformation about vaccine safety, and partisan divisions following the Covid pandemic. In the Lone Star State specifically, vaccine exemptions have been linked to the county with the largest number of infections. Texas law allows children to get an exemption from school vaccines for reasons of conscience. That includes religious beliefs. Still, the safety and efficacy of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine has been established. The two-dose series is 97 percent effective against measles, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's the way to prevent infection, experts say. In Texas, the two children who died in the outbreak were unvaccinated. An unvaccinated adult also died in New Mexico, and there have been more than 1,000 cases and 14 outbreaks reported across the country this year. As of last week, the U.S. was just short of the century's high mark of 1,274 in 2019, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. The group said U.S. cases are likely undercounted. Although, the number of new cases reported in Texas each week has fallen since the beginning of the month. Across the U.S., about 96 percent of measles cases this year have been among people who were unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status, according to the CDC. But, efforts to get people vaccinated have also hurdles from the nation's top health officials. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has said he supports getting vaccinated – but also pushed worrying treatments for measles. Recently, he has falsely claimed that the measles vaccine contains 'aborted fetus debris' and said the mumps vaccination does not work. Remarks from the administration have frustrated physicians who recently said that the nation is 'reaching a breaking point' in its ability to control the measles outbreak. 'It is critical that Congress ensure that the federal government provides the resources necessary for state and local governments and non-governmental organizations to prevent measles infections through access to vaccines, and that these entities have the tools they need to effectively respond to the outbreak,' AAP President Dr. Susan J. Kressly wrote in a letter to Congressional leaders. 'Even one child dying from measles is one too many,' Dr. Kressly wrote. 'What makes these deaths so tragic is that immunization could have prevented these deaths.'
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Measles fears in Texas cause flood of parents to seek vaccine causing vaccination rates to skyrocket
As the deadly measles outbreak in West Texas has continued to grow, parents have reportedly been racing to get their kids vaccinated. New data from the Electronic Health Record data analysis company Truveta has documented the surge, finding that the percentage of six-month-old children in Texas who got their shots in April increased by more than 30 times over last year's average. For 10-month-olds, the percentage increased by more than 10 times. The preliminary research findings have not been peer-reviewed. 'Our data show that starting in February 2025 and accelerating in March and April with the issuance of CDC's Health Alert Network about measles transmission on March 7, 2025, Texas parents are taking advantage of the early vaccine recommendation,' the company said in a news release alongside their findings. 'These results highlight that the outbreak is causing real concern for parents and changing vaccination behavior.' 'This is a huge increase,' Nina Masters, a senior scientist at Truveta and part of the research team, told NBC News. 'Just a really striking signal that vaccination behavior is changing.' In the months leading up to the outbreak fewer than 2 percent of Texas babies under a year old were vaccinated. Now, that figure has jumped to around 10 percent by the time the child reaches 10 months old. The analysis found that in more than 20 percent of all first measles vaccines in March and April were given to children between the ages of six and 11 months old: 11.5-times higher percentage than in 2019 during domestic outbreaks. A request for comment on the matter from the Texas Department of State Health Services was not immediately returned to The Independent. Lubbock's Kaia Hunter was one of the parents who took her child to get the shot. She told NBC News that she did not hesitate to get her 2-year-old son, Brady, fully vaccinated in March. 'Being in the hotbed of the measles outbreak,' said Hunter, 47, 'it was a no-brainer. If it was safe to get him vaccinated early, we were going to protect him.' The news comes amid falling child vaccination rates across the U.S., which have been tied to increasing vaccine hesitancy, the spread of misinformation about vaccine safety, and partisan divisions following the Covid pandemic. In the Lone Star State specifically, vaccine exemptions have been linked to the county with the largest number of infections. Texas law allows children to get an exemption from school vaccines for reasons of conscience. That includes religious beliefs. Still, the safety and efficacy of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine has been established. The two-dose series is 97 percent effective against measles, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's the way to prevent infection, experts say. In Texas, the two children who died in the outbreak were unvaccinated. An unvaccinated adult also died in New Mexico, and there have been more than 1,000 cases and 14 outbreaks reported across the country this year. As of last week, the U.S. was just short of the century's high mark of 1,274 in 2019, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. The group said U.S. cases are likely undercounted. Although, the number of new cases reported in Texas each week has fallen since the beginning of the month. Across the U.S., about 96 percent of measles cases this year have been among people who were unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status, according to the CDC. But, efforts to get people vaccinated have also hurdles from the nation's top health officials. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has said he supports getting vaccinated – but also pushed worrying treatments for measles. Recently, he has falsely claimed that the measles vaccine contains 'aborted fetus debris' and said the mumps vaccination does not work. Remarks from the administration have frustrated physicians who recently said that the nation is 'reaching a breaking point' in its ability to control the measles outbreak. 'It is critical that Congress ensure that the federal government provides the resources necessary for state and local governments and non-governmental organizations to prevent measles infections through access to vaccines, and that these entities have the tools they need to effectively respond to the outbreak,' AAP President Dr. Susan J. Kressly wrote in a letter to Congressional leaders. 'Even one child dying from measles is one too many,' Dr. Kressly wrote. 'What makes these deaths so tragic is that immunization could have prevented these deaths.'
