Two months after the outbreak started, measles cases in West Texas are still increasing, and local public health experts warn the official case count is likely to be underestimated and that the virus will likely continue to spread for many more months.
However, authorities point to a bright side: Even while it’s not as high as they would want, more individuals in Texas and New Mexico, which is also experiencing an epidemic, have received the measles, mumps, and rubella immunisation this year than they did last. Additionally, MMR vaccinations are becoming more and more popular at pharmacies around the United States, particularly in Texas.
As of Friday, the epidemic in Texas had reached 309 cases and resulted in one measles-related fatality, while in New Mexico, there had been 42 cases and one death. Forty-two persons have been hospitalised across the two states.
Texas’ outbreak, which has mostly progressed among undervaccinated Mennonite communities, might continue a year, according to research of how measles has spread in Amish communities in the United States. Those studies showed outbreaks lasted six to seven months, said Katherine Wells, director of the public health department in Lubbock, Texas. Lubbock hospitals have treated the majority of the outbreak’s victims, and the public health department is directly involved in the response.
“It being so rural, now multistate, it’s just going to take a lot more boots on the ground, a lot more work, to get things under control,” Wells said during a media briefing this week. “It’s not an isolated population.”
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