MEASLES – USA (20): (TEXAS) INFANT, INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL
A ProMED-mail post
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International Society for Infectious Diseases
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Date: Fri 28 Feb 2025 17:29 CST
Source: Austin American-Statesman [abridged, edited]
https://www.statesman.com/story/news/healthcare/2025/02/28/measles-outbreak-texas-vaccine-cases-gaines-county-lubbuck/80839221007/
Austin Public Health on Friday [28 Feb 2025] announced Austin’s first
measles case during a statewide outbreak after an infant tested
positive. It is the first case in Austin since 2019.
The case was in a baby too young to be vaccinated. The baby and their
family traveled out of the country where they were exposed to measles,
said Dr. Desmar Walkes, the Austin-Travis County health authority. The
rest of the family was vaccinated. They are currently isolating. To be
vaccinated, [generally – Mod.LL] children have to be at least 1 year
old.
The Texas Department of State Health Services on Friday [28 Feb 2025]
upped its measles count to 146 cases in the state with 20 people
hospitalized. Walkes noted another 2 cases since that update,
including the Austin one. A school-age child died from the highly
contagious virus this week. That child was not vaccinated.
Most people don’t know they are infected with measles before they have
infected someone else, said Dr. Rama Thyagarajan, an infectious
disease expert and an associate professor at the University of Texas
Dell Medical School. The disease is also not something primary care
doctors are used to screening for or suspecting as a possible cause
for the flulike symptoms that begin a measles case, she said. “It is
always a good idea with any respiratory illness to stay home,”
Thyagarajan said.
Austin isn’t currently experiencing a measles outbreak, Walkes said,
but a particular concern is the area’s vaccination rates, which are
less than 91%. Anything below 90% means the risk of a community having
an outbreak is 51%. There are schools and parts of Travis County that
are below the 90% vaccination rate, she said.
Travis County Judge Andy Brown implored the community to get
vaccinated. “We need the vaccination rate to go up,” he said. “We
shouldn’t be here today,” he said. Misinformation around vaccines has
caused rates around the country to fall, making an outbreak possible,
he said.
Austin hospitals and Austin Public Health are preparing for the
possibility of an outbreak, Walkes said. “We are ready and prepared,”
she said. “We have processes in place.”
In some cases, you can give the vaccine to infants who are 6 months or
older, especially if they have been exposed. Health officials have not
made that recommendation for all infants 6 months or older, yet,
Walkes said, but that recommendation might change if Austin does
experience an outbreak. If you do get your 6- to 11-month-old
vaccinated, they would need a second shot at age 1 and then a third
shot at age 4, Cook said.
Infants who have not been vaccinated need to be kept away from
exposure in an outbreak, and the people around them should be
vaccinated, Thyagarajan said. The same is true for anyone who cannot
receive the vaccine because of health conditions such as cancer
treatments or an organ transplant.
Austin Public Health does rely on the federal government for most of
its funding. US Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, said he worries that
this measles outbreak and the bird flu outbreak could be affected by
job and funding cuts at the federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), which helps fund local health departments, and a
reduction by the Trump administration in the communications coming out
of the CDC.
“I fear another deadly pandemic,” he said. “Without the
infrastructure, we can’t get the job done.”
Because Austin does not currently have an outbreak, plans are not
changing for the upcoming South by Southwest festival, Austin Mayor
Kirk Watson said. Friday’s [28 Feb 2025] news conference was scheduled
before Austin Public Health knew about the Austin measles case and had
already intended to ask everyone to get vaccinated, especially as more
people are coming into the Austin area and traveling outside of the
area. “Vaccination remains the best defense,” Watson said. “It’s time
to check and make sure you are up to date with vaccines.”