Texas measles outbreak spreads to Oklahoma

The west Texas measles outbreak has now spread to Oklahoma, as well as New Mexico, with more than 258 cases reported Tuesday across the three states.

That number, by early March, was near the total for the entire U.S. last year, where the count was 285, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Since last Friday, the Texas Department of Health Services said 25 more confirmed cases have been reported, bringing that state’s total to 223. New Mexico’s Department of Health reported 33 measles cases, an increase of three from last week.

Twenty-nine of the infected patients in Texas have been hospitalized, an increase of six, per CNN.

And the two cases in Oklahoma are linked by exposure to the Texas and New Mexico outbreak, according to Oklahoma health officials.

Worried health officials

“Even with climbing case counts, experts say these numbers are a severe undercount,” CNN reported. The article quoted Dr. Catherine Troisi, infectious disease epidemiologist with UTHealth Houston, saying, “So it depends on where the infectious person goes to spread measles to see how far and how many other cases are going to result from it.”

The outbreak is concerning enough that the CDC sent advisors to help try to contain it.

New Mexico officials said they are bracing for more cases, given how contagious measles is.

“This is a virus that will spread, certainly, until mid-May. So we have a couple more months of this. We are certainly going to exceed last year’s levels massively,” Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Philadelphia Children’s Hospital, told CNN.

Measles linked to international travel

Measles has been considered eradicated in the U.S. since 2000, but a decrease in uptake of measles vaccine and international travel have contributed to outbreaks. At least 12 states have measles cases linked to international travel, per the CDC. People can be exposed to measles in countries where the virus is endemic and bring it home, where numbers spread due to lack of vaccination, per health officials.

In the Texas outbreak, though, it’s not known how many have not been vaccinated. And five of those who got measles said they’d had at least one dose of the two-dose measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

Those who were born before 1957 and likely had measles already, as well as those who have received both vaccine doses, are not believed to be at risk.

About measles

But measles is extremely contagious, so health experts estimate that 90% of those who did not get vaccinated or have natural immunity and are exposed will develop the fever, rash and other symptoms.

Measles is also a disease that works directly on the immune system, creating what has been dubbed “immune amnesia.” As Deseret News earlier reported, measles infection can wipe the immune system’s memory that it has had other illnesses, making it susceptible to future infection with those.

Highly contagious, people can pass the virus on before symptoms appear, so they don’t know they have it. And it’s spread through air when someone with measles coughs, sneezes or otherwise disperses virus into the air. To add to the risk, that air can stay contaminated for at least a couple of hours, exposing others who have no idea.

That was the story in the East, where health officials announced that anyone passing through parts of Terminal A at Dulles International Airport on March 5 might have been exposed to measles, as Deseret News reported. An international traveler ended up at the hospital two days later in the emergency department, where measles was diagnosed.

And this week, Philadelphia officials are warning of potential exposures to measles at several health facilities last week. An individual was exposed to measles during international travel and visited the South Philadelphia Health and Literacy Center, which houses a children’s primary care unit and part of the health department, as well as the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia emergency room, according to CBS News.

Tips to avoid measles

The concern is nationwide. Health officials in the Utah Department of Health and Human Services issued a press release recently urging residents to check their immunization records or talk to their health care providers to see if they are adequately vaccinated.

In Utah, people can learn that status by visiting https://immunize.utah.gov/usiis-parents-individuals/. They can also look at their immunization records in the Docket app or website.

Per that notice, “A person who has measles can spread the illness to others even before they have symptoms. Most people will have mild illnesses like fever, rash, diarrhea, or ear infection. Measles can also cause pneumonia, encephalitis (brain infection), seizures, and even death. Young children, pregnant women, and people who have weakened immune systems are especially at risk of severe complications from measles.”

Dr. Asim Cheema, internal medicine and cardiology physician at Your Doctors Online, provided advice for parents on how to keep their children and themselves safe:

• Reduce exposure, especially for those too young to be vaccinated.

For those who are exposed, Cheema recommends monitoring symptoms for up to two weeks and isolating if needed. It’s also important to call ahead before visiting a doctor if measles is suspected to avoid exposing anyone else at the clinic.

“The virus doesn’t discriminate — it will find and infect susceptible individuals regardless of age or health status. The current measles resurgence represents a critical public health challenge,” Cheema said in a written statement, noting possible complications that include pneumonia, brain swelling and even death.

Others note that measles can cause vision and hearing damage and developmental problems.

Nicholas Rupp of the Salt Lake County Health Department told Deseret News that students who are under- or unvaccinated with confirmed exposure to measles can be excluded from school and told to quarantine for up to 21 days to watch for symptoms.

“If they are confirmed exposed, yes, under- and unvaccinated students will need to quarantine at home for 21 days to watch for symptoms.

“The only exception is if the exposed student receives post-exposure prophylaxis (which for measles is MMR vaccine) within three days of the exposure,” he said. “Given that people with measles are contagious up to four days before the telltale rash appears, the three-day window can be challenging to meet since the original patient may not know they have measles and not just a cold until after that window has passed.”