by Lubbock, Texas (KCBD) – The public health of Lubbock does not work to cause fear, but to warn people of the reality of what can happen if they contract and not vaccinated. Director Katherine Wells says that while the nation’s attention turns to the South Plains, the department works to increase consciousness and keep people safe.
In the past three weeks since Lubbock’s public health confirmed the first positive case of measles in Gaines County, that number has grown to 49 in West -Texas.
“If there is a case of measles, if there is a room full 10 not -vaccinated individuals, nine of them will contract measles,” Wells said.
According to Wells, we should not talk about an outbreak of a measles in 2025.
“The MMR vaccine has been around for 50 years and around 2000 we had received zero cases of measles in the United States. And I think people have not seen it for so long, they can become complacent and say, well, I don’t really need the vaccine. It doesn’t, it is not there, so I don’t have to get it, “she said.
On Friday, a 21-year-old line broke without the measles in Lubbock County, when the first case was confirmed in a Lubbock child.
In Gaines County, where the outbreak began, things are now up to 42. Lara Anton, spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services, says that most cases are in the close, Mennonite community in the area, but are extensively behind it .
“It is a non -vaccinated population, regardless of who that group is. We have a bag in that county of individuals who have not been vaccinated. We have bags in Lubbock. You know, there are pockets in every province, in every community, “Wells said.
Wells says that their efforts to trace expansions have contributed to keeping the case in Lubbock County.
The Texas Department of State Health Services reports that Gaines County has one of the lowest MMR vaccination rate in the state. In Lubbock, Wells says that that is a completely different story.
“So I am less worried about a large distribution or a big outbreak, you know, a school district. However, with these exposures in medical facilities, you could have the possibility that a child will come to school that could not expose -vaccinated children in that environment, “she said.
An article in the Global Public Health Journal reports from every 10,000 people who contract measles, 2,000 go to the hospital, 500 children have pneumonia and 10 to 30 children die. The author compares that with the three out of 10,000 people who receive the MMR vaccine and experience fever-related attacks, the 0.04 cases of abnormal blood clotting and the .035 allergic reactions.
“The majority of people believe in vaccinations. I mean, I think that is still something that is not political … Most people believe that you have to have your children vaccinated. But it’s so easy to get wrong information on the internet, it’s so easy to shoot that, “says Wells.
Wells says that babies in Lubbock County who have been exposed now need extra photos and some extra proteins to build antibodies in their immune system. She encourages anyone who is not -vaccinated, or does not encourage -vaccinated children to reconsider to help protect the most vulnerable.
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