‘We should be worried’: Immunize El Paso on Measles outbreak, vaccination rates declining
Health officials have declared a measles outbreak in West Texas, with 15 confirmed cases and one in a bordering county in New Mexico.
The New Mexico Department of Health has confirmed their first measles case of the year -- Just after dozens of cases were reported in a West Texas county.
El Pasoans say they're worried about the increase in outbreaks and the danger it puts their kids in.
"You know, it's really scary. I think it's really important that we continue to get our kids vaccinated," said Valentina Samaniego, a mother to a baby girl. "I know it's a big controversy nowadays, but it's very important, especially seeing this going on."
Health officials say that the measles outbreak is due to the decline of vaccinations in the state.
Most of the latest cases involve school-aged children in Gaines County, about four hours away from El Paso.
On Tuesday, an unvaccinated teenager in Lovington, New Mexico was reported with measles.
These are in addition to two measles cases from January in Harris County -- the first in Texas since 2023.
"If you're vaccinated with measles vaccines, there is a chance that you will be be getting sick. However, it's not going to be as severe as if you were not vaccinated. And that's the situation that's happening around Texas or a particularly in West Texas," explained Ivan luna, director of Immunize El Paso. "Majority of the individuals are have been hospitalized, are you know, sick with measles. It's because they are not vaccinated."
Measles is a highly contagious airborne infection that can last up to two hours in the air after an infected person leaves the room.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, red watery eyes, sore throat, white spots in the mouth, and a red blotchy rash.
"My daughter's almost two years old. We actually ended up taking her out of daycare due to all the sicknesses that we're going around, said Samaniego. "She continued to get sick every two weeks, so we had to make that decision to take her out of daycare."
The number of exemption requests in Texas has doubled from what it was five years ago.
"I have a two year old niece. My sister-in-law stopped working, and that was one of the reasons, because they didn't want to bring up daycare because of, the decrease in people who are vaccinating their kids," Alina Reta, a medical student.
The CDC recommends children to get their first dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine at the age of 1, and their second dose between the ages 4 and 6.
