North Texas health officials warn spring breakers could further spread measles cases
Concerns grow of more measles spread during break
Health officials saw spikes in COVID-19 cases after spring break travel, and they don’t want the same trend to happen with measles.
As North Texas families head out of town on spring break, local doctors are alert for the possibility of further spread of measles cases.
At least one North Texas school district is now offering vaccines to those who don't have it.
During the pandemic, the increase in travel over spring break was a concern for the spread of COVID-19.
Now, as the number of measles cases continues to increase, health officials are concerned about the potential spread of measles as people pack their bags for vacation.
What they're saying:
As families, teachers and staff enjoy spring break, DFW Hospital Council President Stephen Love is concerned people might bring home an unwanted souvenir from their travels: the measles.
"When I talk to the infectious disease doctors with the movement we're seeing, and it's spring break, and we have some pockets of unvaccinated, there is a distinct possibility we could see the measles spread," he said.
Love says health officials saw spikes in COVID-19 cases after spring break travel, and they don’t want the same trend to happen with measles.
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"One: they talk about how contagious it is," he said. "Two: they strongly recommend people be vaccinated."
Especially children.
"You've got 60 years of history here with the measles vaccine," said Love. "It's not something new, and it's been proven to work. We thought that we had really almost eradicated measles in this country."
While no cases have been confirmed in Tarrant County, health officials can't rule out the possibility.
"I certainly would hope not. But the possibility is there," warned Love. "Because we've got some areas in Tarrant County and in Dallas County where we have vaccination rates lower than 90%. And from what the infectious disease doctors tell me, you really want the measles vaccine rate to be around 95% or greater."
Local perspective:
Despite no known outbreaks in North Texas, the Texas Department of State Health Services named Tarrant County as one of the three areas that will increase testing as its lab covers 30 counties.
Garland ISD is offering a vaccination clinic this week at the student services center for kids to get the measles vaccination or the second dose of the vaccine if they’re missing it.
The vaccine clinic will take place on Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Students must have a parent or guardian with them and require an appointment.
Big picture view:
The Texas Department of State Health Services reported nearly 200 cases of measles from an outbreak among mostly unvaccinated in West Texas.
A Texas child died as a result of the outbreak.
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More information will be made available later this week. But so far, the outbreak hasn’t spread past West Texas and eastern New Mexico.
Out of the 198 known cases, DSHS reports 80 patients were not vaccinated, and the vaccination status isn’t known for 113 patients. Five of them received at least one dose.
The Source: Information in this article comes from DFW Hospital Council President Stephen Love, Garland ISD, the Texas Department of State Health Services and previous FOX 4 coverage.