West Texas measles outbreak doubles to 48 cases

[struggle4progress]

By Neha Mukherjee, CNN
Updated 7:24 PM EST, Fri February 14, 2025

The measles outbreak first reported in Gaines County, Texas, has doubled to 48 cases since a count released earlier this week, the Texas Department of State Health Services said Friday. The first two cases were identified in late January, and the numbers have been rising since.

Forty-two cases are reported in Gaines County. Surrounding counties have also reported cases, three in Terry County, two in Yoakum County and one in Lynn County. With the contagious nature of the disease, the state health department says it expects that more cases will be reported in Gaines County and the surrounding areas.

All of the cases are in unvaccinated people or those who have unknown vaccination status. Most cases are in children 5 to 17 years old ...

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/14/health/measles-texas-outbreak/index.html

[dem4decades]

1. won't be long till the reporting of cases will be criminalized.

[Irish_Dem]

2. They don't care if children get shot to ribbons with guns as they sit in school.

These are totally preventable deaths.

Why would they care about preventable diseases killing kids.

[rsdsharp]

3. Jesus, this is obscene. I grew up in a time when quarantine signs were a common sight on front doors.

I had both measles and mumps — at the same time. Surprising the doctor, and my parents, I survived, but it was a long and nasty couple of weeks.

And now these idiots want to bring it all back.

[marked50]

4. There are reported measles cases in neighboring Lea County, New Mexico

It appears that this may be in or around the city of Hobbs, which is just across the state line from Gaines County, TX.

Hobbs is one of two cities (Clovis was the other) that passed anti-abortion ordinances. This is contrary to New Mexico law and it's current status as an abortion access state. These ordinances have since been declared illegal.

So this measles outbreak isn't too surprising for the area due to their proximity to Texas and it's rightwing craziness.

[Meowmee]

5. My brother just told me about this...

I was telling him about getting my polio vaccine booster. I will do an op about that later. I am now boostered for all of my childhood vaccines. It will take 2 weeks for this one to have full immunity. I just wonder if there are others I need to get. I was never vaccinated for chicken pox, no vaccine and I had it twice. Small pox I was vaccinated for, I wonder if I need a booster for that too.

It is awful to see this. If a lot of people die due to non vaccination when they could have been vaccinated and chose not to be, people should be charged with murder and child abuse etc. Of course I realize they won't be.

[Iris]

8. Re chicken pox vaccine - that's basically a shingles vaccine

[Meowmee]

9. Shingles is different though, I will have to read more about it

I am achy from this one, time for some tylenol etc. I will be getting the shingrix but I will ask my doc if I need the other one too. Probably not. I just wonder what other diseases these murderers are going to put us at risk for.

The shingrix vaccine does not prevent chicken pox, it prevents shingles which is different. The varicella vaccine prevents chicken pox.
* even if you have not had chicken pox you can still get shingles from exposure to someone who has it, so everyone should get the shingrix vaccine.

[Hekate]

10. Chicken pox and shingles are the same virus. A case of chicken pox leaves the virus behind in your body...

…just waiting to reactivate as shingles later in life.

The vaccination for chicken pox is a trivial event. If it had been available when my kids were little, I would have made sure they had the shot. As it was, they each caught the disease, just as I and my sibs did before them.

In my old age, I had the 2-dose Shingrix vaccination, to guard against the potential reactivation of the virus into shingles. Those shots kicked my butt — didn’t bother my husband much, but I felt lousy for 4 days each time.

For those who wonder, there are folks here who have experienced shingles and have written about it — including one who said it felt like a blowtorch on the affected area. Others had lesser symptoms. I’d rather not take the chance.

[NickB79]

14. Exactly right

I'm so glad my daughter got her chicken pox vaccine, because now she'll never have to deal with shingles.

My wife developed shingles while pregnant; apparently the pregnancy weakened her immune system enough for the chicken pox virus to come out of hibernation. She was miserable for weeks 😞

My mom has it as well, and it appeared near her eye. Her doctor was very worried she could lose her sight in that eye if it spread too far. Thankfully it didn't.

[Meowmee]

17. You can still get shingles from exposure to someone who has it.

Last edited Sat Feb 15, 2025, 09:23 PM - Edit history (1)

Although I don’t think it’s very common. My father and brother both had shingles and I didn’t get it from them. They had mild cases. * Although if I get it I think it would be because I had chicken pox in the past, not from exposure most likely.

So it’s recommended for everyone to get the shingrix vaccine.

[Meowmee]

15. I'm aware of all of that 😀

However the shingrix vaccine does NOT prevent chicken pox… the varicella vaccine does. He varicella can make it less likely to get shingles but it doesn't completely prevent it either. So it’s recommended for everyone to get the shingle shot. And also, it’s recommended to get a varicella booster if you had it when you were a child.

Vaccines do not last forever contrary to what many people think, although some will be effective for a long time. So if it was a long time ago, it’s recommended to get boosted…when I read specifically about the polio vaccine, sources for NY now said if it was over 10 years since your last vaccine they recommended a booster if you were going to be exposed to it.

In New York, several counties near ours have had polio detected in the water source. And I’m sure that’s probably true for many other areas in the country. Since people are going to stop getting vaccinated even more now with everything going on it would be wise to get boosted for everything.

Yes I know that it’s related to having had chickenpox, no need to explain.

I had chickenpox twice as a child there was no vaccine then. So I’m just wondering if I need to get boosted for that. I will ask my doctor what she thinks. Chickenpox can be fatal in older adults. And while, I don’t think I’m old enough yet for it to be fatal, I have a lot of serious health conditions and I certainly don’t want to go through having chickenpox again, that was awful.

As I mentioned above, anyone can get shingles, even if they’ve never had chickenpox if they come into contact with someone that has shingles. And even if they had the varicella vaccine.

My father and brother both had shingles, but they had very mild cases. I’m going to get the shingles vaccine though because with my luck I’ll get a severe case if I don’t. So, in 2 weeks or so, I will get the first shingrix shot. The polio vaccine is making me very achy so I may wait three weeks till I get it. I’m just worried in that time frame that psycho could start trying to stop vaccines, etc..

I also wonder if there’s anything else I should get vaccinated for just in case -who knows what the hell is going to happen when shit starts to hit the fan here.

[Iris]

12. Definitely ask! And let us know!

[Meowmee]

16. I will 😀

I’m going to ask about smallpox too. I also had that vaccine when I was probably about 8-9, for some reason although I had a fever for two weeks and a big sore I did not get the scar that a lot of people got.

[cloudbase]

6. Gaines County went 91% for TSF in 2024,

so a measles outbreak doesn't come as much of a surprise.

[dalton99a]

7. Get it to 48000 and make America great again

[hatrack]

11. Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis

Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), also known as Dawson disease, is a rare form of progressive brain inflammation caused by a persistent infection with the measles virus. The condition primarily affects children, teens, and young adults. It has been estimated that about 2 in 10,000 people who get measles will eventually develop SSPE.[1] However, a 2016 study estimated that the rate for unvaccinated infants under 15 months was as high as 1 in 609.[2][3] No cure for SSPE exists, and the condition is almost always fatal. SSPE should not be confused with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, which can also be caused by the measles virus, but has a very different timing and course.[4]

SSPE is caused by the wild-type virus, not by vaccine strains.[5][6]

SSPE is characterized by a history of primary measles infection, followed by an asymptomatic period that lasts 7 years on average but can range from 1 month to 27 years. After the asymptomatic period, progressive neurological deterioration occurs, characterized by behavior change, intellectual problems, myoclonic seizures, blindness, ataxia, and eventually death.[7][8]

EDIT

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subacute_sclerosing_panencephalitis

It's not subacute sclerosing panencephalitis - it's Freedom Measles!!!

[Passages]

13. America in deep decline.

We have failed to counter the lies and distortions of vaccines and here we are.