Measles Outbreak

Maryann Corrozzo '26

In recent weeks, there has been an increase in measles cases, causing fear across the country. Measles, an extremely contagious disease, is unfortunately making a comeback.

The outbreak is currently in Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. On Friday March 21, Texas reported 309 cases of measles, New Mexico reported 42 cases of measles, and Oklahoma reported 4 probable cases.

The cases being reported are young people, ages up to 17 years old. For children up to the age of 4, there were 110 cases of measles and for ages 5 to 17, there were 140 cases. There are 42 people hospitalized and the virus is still spreading.

Many with the virus were people either not vaccinated or people who had an unclear vaccination status. However, in Texas and New Mexico six cases were found in people who said they have gotten at least one dose of the vaccination. Testing labs were set up in Lubbock, Texas near the outbreak. This reduced the time to get the results from 72 hours to the same day.

Doctors all around the country say the answer to this outbreak is getting vaccinated. Although there are some people with the vaccine still getting affected, it is mainly people who are unvaccinated. If you are not already vaccinated, it is probably the smartest idea to get vaccinated.