An outbreak of measles in western Texas and parts of New Mexico has killed one child and infected nearly 150 people as of the latest reports from Saturday.
After being declared eliminated in 2000, measles made a comeback in the U.S. in 2015 thanks to large pockets of vaccine-hesitant communities.
Many of the measles cases in Texas have occurred in communities with low rates of vaccination, particularly the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine, which is administered to children.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends communities have at least a 95% vaccination rate to stop outbreaks. This can be especially important among school-aged kids.
But according to state data, only about 89% of kindergarten students in Tulsa County were up to date on their MMR vaccines.
Some people in Tulsa are skeptical of the effectiveness of vaccines, especially when receiving dubious information on social media.
“It’s hard to filter through what is correct and what is incorrect,” said Ashley Bailey, an epidemiologist with the Tulsa Health Department.
Bailey said the health department has tried to approach skeptical residents without judgement.
According to the CDC, the proper two doses of the MMR vaccine are 97% effective against measles.
Low vaccination rates erode the effects of population immunity, or herd immunity, which is meant to protect those who can’t be vaccinated or are otherwise more vulnerable.
“When I’m going to go visit my grandma, who lives in a nursing home… I’m not thinking about my health, I’m trying to think about the health of my grandma,” said Bailey.
Bailey said health officials in Tulsa want residents to know they’re monitoring for outbreaks.
“Half of our job, I feel like, is prevention of things that could potentially happen,” she said.
Measles is one of the most contagious diseases on Earth. Before its short-lived eradication in 2000, around 400-500 children would die each year from the disease in the U.S.
