The Growing Danger of Measles
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What is the current status of the measles outbreak in Texas?
From The New York Times, this is The Daily. I'm Kim Severson. A measles outbreak continues to spread in Texas, where more than 200 people have been infected, one child has died, and health experts are now concerned that low vaccination rates will make it harder to contain. Today, my colleague Teddy Rosenbluth takes us into the epicenter of the outbreak and explains whether its rapid spread and the government's response to it signals a turning point in how America views public health. It's Wednesday, March 12th. Teddy, welcome. Thank you. Like most people, I don't really think about measles being much of a threat. You may hear about an outbreak, but it gets contained. We all move on. This outbreak doesn't seem to be going away. Can you lay out for me why it's different?
Why is this measles outbreak different from previous ones?
Yes. So part of the reason that you probably don't think very much about measles, even though it's an incredibly contagious virus, is because it's vaccine-preventable. It's been eliminated in the United States since 2000, which means there'll be cases here and there, but it's not continuously spreading. And so we've seen these other outbreaks. You know, we saw one in New York. We saw one in Washington. But experts are looking at this outbreak a little bit differently. And that's because, one, a child has died. And two, because childhood vaccination rates have been falling for some time. And that fall really accelerated during the pandemic and just hasn't rebounded. And so in some pockets of the United States, what we're seeing is that vaccination rates for the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine, the MMR shot, have fallen far below where experts would want them to be. And those pockets have multiplied and gotten bigger, really raising concerns that these once-isolated outbreaks are going to travel further and infect more people.
And that's what's happening in Texas specifically, right? Right. So walk me through this. When did it start and where are we now?
How did the measles outbreak start in Texas?
So the first couple cases started popping up at the end of January. And they were these kids who belonged to a very large Mennonite population that settled in West Texas in the 1970s. In this population, there is no religious doctrine that says that they cannot be vaccinated. But historically, they have had low vaccine uptake just because they don't interact with the medical system as often as the broader community.
Right. And as I understand, they're much more reliant on natural remedies.
Yes, a long tradition of holistic medicine, that sort of thing. Okay. But the lack of vaccination uptake in that area sort of gives measles the oxygen that it needs to spread rapidly through the community. And so by the end of February, we saw more than 120 cases, right? And then two months later, we're now up to more than 200 cases. And now we're also seeing a separate but likely related outbreak in New Mexico, in a county that borders where this outbreak has been happening in Texas. And unfortunately, we've seen two deaths related to these outbreaks. So I was really interested in seeing what an outbreak of measles looks like. This is a virus that many people have never seen in their lifetimes.
So I started to call some doctors, call some public health officials, and ultimately decided to travel down there myself.
Okay, so you land in West Texas. Take me through how your trip started.
Sure. So maybe just at the scene a little bit, what West Texas is known for is, you know, four things. Cotton, peanuts, oil, and this big Mennonite community. What is it? It's a 35-year-old. So I spent time at the hospital that serves this community, Seminole Memorial Hospital in Gaines County, Texas, which is the epicenter of this big measles outbreak. Causing the station to clog up. I was shadowing Dr. Wendell Parkey, the director of the family clinic there. And at the clinic, they have divided their day into two. In the morning, they do all the wellness visits. They see the pregnant women. They do checks to make sure infants are healthy. And then at 1 p.m., sort of everything shifts. Everyone puts on N95 masks, and that's when they start seeing the measles cases.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the current status of the measles outbreak in Texas?
0:01–1:13
2
Why is this measles outbreak different from previous ones?
1:13–2:30
3
How did the measles outbreak start in Texas?
2:30–7:59
4
What are the symptoms and risks of measles?
7:59–10:14
5
How are personal beliefs affecting vaccination decisions?
10:14–15:05
6
What impact did the COVID-19 pandemic have on vaccination rates?
15:05–25:53
Speakers
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