The ongoing outbreak of measles in the South Plains region of Texas has continued to grow. There were 481 confirmed cases as of Friday, an increase of 59 from the count on Tuesday.
The outbreak in the region, centered on Gaines County, Texas, has been ongoing since late January. The majority of the cases, 351, have been registered there; the next-highest number of cases in a Texas county as of Friday was neighboring Terry County, where 43 cases have been confirmed according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
So far, there have been 56 patients hospitalized and one fatality, an unvaccinated school-aged boy in Lubbock, Texas. Juveniles have borne the brunt of the outbreak, with 157 cases in babies and toddlers 0 to 4 years old and 180 cases in kids and teens ages 5 to 17. Another 119 cases have occurred in people ages 18 and up, while 25 cases have their age data pending.
Most of the cases have involved people who are either confirmed to be unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is not known, at 471. Just three patients in the Texas outbreak have gotten one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, while seven have gotten two doses.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges people to get the MMR vaccine as a way of preventing the spread of measles. Getting one dose is 93% effective while getting two is 97% effective, the CDC said.
The CDC adds that about 20% of all unvaccinated measles patients end up hospitalized nationwide.
Measles has also spread to parts of Oklahoma and New Mexico bordering the area of the Texas outbreak. In New Mexico, there have been 52 cases confirmed in Lea County, which borders Gaines County, Texas; of those patients, two people have been hospitalized and one has died as of Friday, the New Mexico Department of Health said on its website.
There have also been two cases confirmed in Eddy County, Texas, in southern New Mexico. Neither patient in Eddy County has been hospitalized as of Friday.
As of March 25, there were seven confirmed cases and two probable cases of measles in Oklahoma, where the Oklahoma State Department of Health said, “initial cases reported exposure to the measles outbreak in West Texas and New Mexico.”
