The highly contagious virus is spreading across multiple states, leading to hospitalizations and potential healthcare exposures.
Three updates:
1. Texas alone has reported 48 measles cases over the last three weeks, including 13 that required hospitalization. A majority of cases have involved children and adolescents 17 and younger, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. All cases involve individuals who are unvaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status.
Health officials have struggled to track the outbreak, making it difficult to determine the true scope of infections, according to Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development in Houston. Many cases may be going uncounted because they have yet to be officially confirmed, he said.
“Still several kids [are] going to [the] emergency room and hospitals and even being admitted but have not had confirmatory diagnosis,” Dr. Hotez told CBS affiliate KHOU.
2. The rise in measles activity poses infection prevention and control challenges for hospitals, particularly as some patients seek care unannounced at emergency departments. The New Jersey Department of Health is notifying people who may have been exposed to measles at Englewood (N.J.) Hospital after an unvaccinated patient sought care at its emergency department Feb. 9. The individual tested positive after recently traveling internationally. The case represents the state’s first measles case this year, according to the New Jersey Department of Health. As of Feb. 14, no additional cases have been identified. A spokesperson for Englewood Hospital declined The Record‘s request for comment and referred all inquiries to the state health department.
3. The current national tally of measles cases is unclear, as the CDC updates these figures once a month. As of Feb. 6, the agency reported 14 cases in five states: Alaska, Georgia, New York, Rhode Island and Texas. Of these cases, 43% required hospitalization. Last year, the U.S. reported 16 outbreaks and 285 total cases, up from just 59 cases in 2023.