Measles updates

Vitamin A, herd immunity, the pastor in Texas, booster info, and cases are not normal this year.

I’m sure you’ve seen the sad news about another person who died from measles. It’s just so sad and preventable. The big outbreak in NM and TX are in areas where I have lots of family and I grew up and went to college where the outbreaks are. So, all of this is near and dear. If you know the family, please pass on our condolences.

Here’s an update and answer to some of your questions:

Measles update

As of March 7, 2025, Measles is now in 12 states: Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, and Washington. There are 222 cases in those states; 201 are in NM and Texas alone. Of the 222, 94% were unvaccinated. 1 in 5 are in the hospital and the majority of those hospitalized are children. If you and your children are not vaccinated, I would highly recommend getting your MMR vaccines. With the low national vaccine coverage for MMR, the outbreaks in 12 states, how incredibly infectious measles is (9 out of 10 unvaccinated people will get it), and low staffing at HHS/CDC, I do expect this outbreak to spread to other states. So, I would encourage you to be prepared before it hits your state/area.

Is this normal? Are there more measles now than other years?

I’m sure you’ve seen reports that the measles cases we are seeing in 2025 is normal and what we see every year. Don’t believe it. In 2024, there were 285 measles cases TOTAL. (In comparison, we are already at 222 in 2025 and we’re only in February.) In 2019, we did have a big measles year with 1,261 cases mainly in Washington and New York. But, nothing about this year’s outbreak is normal. And measles is the MOST contagious disease on earth. 9 out of 10 unvaccinated children will get measles if they are exposed. So, the wildfire spread in the current outbreak is showing that. This is not normal!

What about vitamin A?

Vitamin A does not prevent or cure measles. Too much vitamin A can actually do more harm than good resulting in toxicities and serious health complications. One of the touted ‘cures’ or ‘prevention’ mechanisms against measles right now is to have your child supplement with vitamin A rather than get the MMR vaccine. All data shows that vitamin A is no substitute for the MMR vaccine though. Again, Vitamin A does not prevent or cure measles.

For children with measles and a significant vitamin A deficiency (which is quite rare - less than 0.5% of kids in the US have a vitamin A deficiency), there is some benefit to supplementing vitamin A to prevent death from measles. However, there’s no evidence that supplementing vitamin A will protect the child from hospitalization or the other complications from measles (like blindness, hearing loss, or the awful panecephalitis that can occur years after measles). Vaccines protect against all of that though. Vaccines also prevent measles in the first place and are your best protection.

Vitamin A is no substitute for the MMR vaccine and can actually greatly harm your child. Too much vitamin A can result in high blood pressure in the child’s skull, liver damage, and coma. I’m hearing from healthcare providers in Texas/NM that they are seeing cases of vitamin A toxicity among children in their hospitals - and it’s not good, friends.

What is herd immunity against measles?

Herd immunity is a community-level barrier against a disease like measles. It’s the percentage of a community that needs to be vaccinated against that disease to protect the rest of the community. Think of it as a community-level-wall against deadly diseases. For measles, the vaccine coverage in a community needs to be >95% for herd immunity to stay in place. Below 95%, outbreaks can occur swiftly with measles because it is so infectious - That is one of the main reasons why we are seeing the outbreaks in NM and Texas right now with no end in sight for now.

To give you an example, only 11 states achieved herd immunity during the 2023-34 school year. You can check your state here.

By now, I’m sure you’ve seen the Instagram video of Mercy Culture Church’s Lead pastor Landon Schott celebrating his church’s private schools having the lowest vaccination rate for measles in the state. The school has only a 14% vaccination rate for MMR among kindergarteners and he is celebrating that in the IG video. The Dallas Morning News reported that school is one of “six facilities in North Texas that have less than 50% of its kindergarten population vaccinated”. In other words, when measles hits this part of the state, it will be devastating. Based on how infectious measles is, the Mercy Culture Preparatory private school has no herd immunity. If measles hit there, the 350 children enrolled could result in 270 children getting measles in the school - of those, 50-70 would be hospitalized. ‘Celebrating’ low vaccination rates is playing with fire with gasoline.

Parents, if you live in an area with low vaccination rates, make sure your child is protected from measles with two doses of the MMR vaccine. I’ve heard from others that many states/counties are releasing the vaccination coverage percentage - so look for those and then act accordingly. For those of you in Texas, you can check the vaccination rates for some schools here.

Is the measles vaccine (MMR) safe?

Measles is preventable with childhood vaccinations and the vaccine is safe. The false claim about autism being caused by vaccines has been widely debunked over and over again. This claim started in 1998 when Andrew Wakefield and colleagues published a paper claiming that the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine caused autism - a paper that has since been retracted due to scientific misconduct (aka. really bad and fraudulent science).

A recent study with 657,461 children, one of the largest ever on the MMR vaccine (for context, the debunked Wakefield study I mentioned above had only 12 children), looked specifically at the connection between the MMR vaccine and autism. The conclusion: MMR does not cause autism. To further prove the point, researchers looked at a subgroup of children at higher risk of autism, such as having a sibling with autism, and concluded the same: MMR does not cause autism. Decades of other studies have had the same result. (Side note: The journals that published these two studies are some of the highest and most respected scientific journals. They are very hard to get published in because of the rigorous standards of excellent science. In other words, they are as legit as they come.) Study after study after study debunked those claims.

The real data with hundreds of thousands of children show that MMR vaccines are safe and effective against measles.

Don’t believe the “stories” you see on Facebook or elsewhere. I know they can be loud right now and will probably get louder with moves by HHS to study the debunked claims again. I’ll keep you posted on that. But, MMR vaccines are safe and effective.

Another plea to get vaccinated.

I just can’t overemphasize enough how incredibly contagious measles is.

• 9 out of 10 people will become infected with measles if exposed and not protected through vaccines - making measles one of the most infectious diseases in the world.

• Measles can survive for 2 hours in the air or on infected surfaces (like doorknobs, light switches, tables, etc) and spreads when an infected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes.

• An infected person can transmit measles to others from 4 days prior to the rash starts.

• Once infected, it usually takes 10-14 days to become symptomatic. At the beginning (4-7 days), symptoms include a running nose, cough, eye irritation (think red and watery), and white spots inside your cheeks. The characteristic rash begins 7-18 days after exposure, spreading from the face and upper neck first, and then to the hands and feet.

• “Measles infects the respiratory tract and then spreads throughout the body. It can cause severe disease, complications, and even death.”

• Some of those complications can happen years after infections.

• 1 in 5 will need hospital care.

• Complications include blindness, brain swelling/damage, pneumonia or other breathing problems, severe diarrhea leading to dehydration, and infections. 30% of children infected with measles develop a complication. For pregnant women, measles can be super dangerous to her and the baby.

• There is no specific treatment for measles.

How can I protect myself and my family? Should I get a booster?

For children - Mommas (especially in West Texas and Lea County, New Mexico), please get your babies protected. There’s still time and your child has a 90% chance of getting measles if they are unvaccinated and exposed. Your child needs 2 doses but even 1 dose can provide good protection - 93% protection! In high-risk areas, like West Texas/Lea County, NM, children as young as 6 months can be vaccinated too. If your child gets the MMR vaccine within 72 hours of exposure, it can provide some protection! See below:

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/mmr/public/index.html

Here’s where residents of South Plains can get vaccinated.

Here’s where residents of Lea County can get vaccinated.

For adults - If you’re an adult and wondering if you should get the MMR vaccine, here’s a helpful website. You can ask your healthcare provider for a blood test to determine if you should get a MMR. Specifically, this is called a titer and is a simple blood test.

-If you were born prior to 1957, you probably were exposed to measles as a child and have natural immunity. If that’s the case, you don’t need a booster or vaccination. But, you can still check if you have protection through the blood test (the titer) by asking your doctor.

-If you were vaccinated between 1963 and 1967, that vaccine didn’t work. So you might still be at risk if you didn’t receive your 2nd dose.

-The 2nd dose was added to the vaccination schedule for children in 1990.

-If you were vaccinated between 1968 and 1989, you probably received only 1 dose. 1 dose is still really protective - 93-95% protective! You can ask your doctor for the blood titer test to see if you have enough protection through antibodies or if you need another dose.

-So if you were born between 1957 and 1968, I would highly recommend checking your vaccination status by asking your doctor for a blood test (titer) to check for antibodies.

-If you don’t know your vaccination status or if you want to know if you need a booster, ask your doctor for a blood test to check for antibodies.

Stay safe out there, everyone. I’ll keep you updated. And to all of my friends in NM and West Texas, hang in there!

-Emily

Source: CDC