STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Measles is spreading across parts of west Texas.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Health officials thought they had eradicated this disease 25 years ago, but it's occasionally returned, most recently to five counties around Lubbock, Texas.
INSKEEP: Which is where we find Samantha Larned of our member station KTTZ. Samantha, good morning.
SAMANTHA LARNED, BYLINE: Good morning.
INSKEEP: What's it like there?
LARNED: There is a lot of anxiety around this. In the past week, measles cases have more than doubled. We now have 58 confirmed cases. Here in Lubbock, it's just one, but it's the first one the city has seen in more than 20 years. Zach Holbrooks is the executive director of South Plains Public Health District, which serves Gaines County and Terry County outside of Lubbock, where most of these cases are being reported. He expects cases to continue rising.
ZACH HOLBROOKS: Could it grow? Absolutely, it could. We're trying to educate and get as much information as possible so that people realize what the stakes are.
LARNED: A majority of the cases are among school-aged children, and the state Health Department says most of the measles patients are either unvaccinated or have an unknown vaccine status. Measles can be dangerous, even deadly, especially for babies and children.
INSKEEP: OK, you mentioned vaccines there. Do health authorities feel they understand how this particular outbreak got going?
LARNED: Public health officials have described communities in Gaines County as vaccine-hesitant. The vaccination rate there is just under 82% as compared to the state of Texas, which has a vaccination rate of 90%.
Katherine Wells is the director of public health here in Lubbock - where there is that one case - and she says the process of confirming measles cases is a lot quicker in a city than in those remote rural areas like Seminole - which is an hour and a half away from here - where a majority of those cases have occurred.
KATHERINE WELLS: The quickest way to get that measles test done is in the state public health lab in Austin, which is fine when you're in Lubbock because we have overnight delivery to Austin.
INSKEEP: OK, I guess she's saying that it's a little bit harder to catch up to this disease and track and isolate it when you're in some of the rural areas. I'd like to know, though, is this outbreak in West Texas representative of things going on around the country?
LARNED: Well, like Texas, in the past month, there's been cases in Georgia, Rhode Island, New York City and Alaska. And this is all coming as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is getting started leading the Health and Human Services Department. Kennedy was critical of the measles vaccine for years before he was nominated. Health officials say the vaccine is 97% effective at preventing measles, even after exposure. Some of the people who are at risk are those with compromised immune systems, like pregnant people and babies under 1 year old who can't receive the vaccine.
Dr. Ron Cook is the health authority for the city of Lubbock, and he says the vaccine is safe.
RON COOK: I tell my pediatric moms and dads if they get a rash after the MMR, it's OK. It's not measles. It's just your body's reaction to the vaccine.
LARNED: There haven't been any deaths so far with this outbreak, but providers are concerned about continued spread from those who might not know that they have measles. And MMR vaccines are available across the state.
INSKEEP: Samantha, thanks so much.
LARNED: Thank you.
INSKEEP: Samantha Larned is a reporter with member station KTTZ in Lubbock, Texas. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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