The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) said there were 327 cases of measles across the South Plains as of March 25.
Forty patients were hospitalized. According to DSHS, 325 of the cases either did not have a measles vaccine or had an โunknown status.โ Only two cases were considered fully vaccinated. EverythingLubbock.com previously reported an unvaccinated school-aged child passed away due to the measles in late February. Officials said the child did not have known underlying conditions.
DSHS said it determined three cases that were previously classified as vaccinated turned out to be unvaccinated. Two of those cases got their vaccine doses a couple days before symptoms started, after they were already exposed to the virus. For the third case, DSHS said a Lubbock County resident had a vaccine reaction, not measles, and the vaccine strain was detected during testing. That case was removed from the count entirely.
โThe measles vaccine can occasionally cause a reaction with a rash and fever that mimic measles, but it is not a measles infection and cannot spread to other people.โ DSHS said.
Measles is a highly contagious viral infection that spreads through the air and can linger for hours when an infected person coughs or sneezes, officials said. According to health officials, symptoms start with fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes, followed by a rash that spreads across the body. Health officials said measles can lead to dangerous complications like pneumonia, brain swelling and even death, especially for young unvaccinated or immunocompromised children.
โThe best way to prevent getting sick is to be immunized with two doses of a vaccine against measles, which is primarily administered as the combination measles-mumps-rubella vaccine,โ DSHS said.
DSHS has provided a map of where to find the measles vaccine for adults and children.
It can take the body about 14 days to develop immunity to measles after vaccination. People are not considered fully vaccinated until those 14 days have passed, according to DSHS.
