Fueled by the ongoing measles outbreak in Texas, cases in the United States this year now exceed 500, according to NBC News’ tally of state health department data.
The 523 cases recorded in less than three months represent the second-highest annual total the country has seen in a decade. In the only year with more cases, 2019, the United States nearly lost its measles elimination status.
Since the Texas outbreak began in late January, 400 cases have been confirmed in the state, the Department of State Health Services said in an update Friday. Forty-one patients have been hospitalized, and a 6-year-old child has died.
All but two of Texas’ confirmed infections have been in people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown.
The outbreak has spread to three other states: New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas, where the World Health Organization reported on Thursday that a DNA sequence of the virus in one case was identical to those from Texas.
The outbreak originated in Gaines County, Texas, which has recorded 226 cases, according to the state health department. The county has one of the state’s highest school vaccine exemption rates at nearly 18%, according to health department data.
Katherine Wells, director of public health for nearby Lubbock County, told NBC News last week that efforts to increase vaccination there have gotten a lukewarm response and suggested that it could be a year until the outbreak is controlled.
Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 92.7% of kindergarteners have had two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The two-shot regimen is 97% effective at preventing measles.
However, the rate may be lower among children younger than 5, who are not fully captured in surveillance data. A study last month calculated, based on a survey, that the share could be as low as 72%.
In large part thanks to the success of the MMR vaccine, measles has been considered eliminated in the U.S. since 2000, meaning the virus is not continuously spreading, though there are occasional outbreaks.
Ambra Hawksley holds her son, Andrik, 6, while his sister, JaeLynn, holds his hand as he prepares to get an MMR vaccine at a clinic in Lubbock, Texas, on March 1. Jan Sonnenmair / Getty Images
Infants usually get their first measles shot at 12 to 15 months, followed by the second when they are 4 to 6 years old. But the Texas Health Department said earlier this month that it may consider vaccinating babies as young as 6 months. The CDC says health departments can offer earlier vaccinations in areas experiencing outbreaks.
Measles is highly contagious — the virus spreads through the air and can linger for up to two hours after an infected person leaves a space, according to the CDC. Up to 90% of people without immunity from a vaccine or prior infection can contract the illness if they come into contact with an infected person.
Symptoms of an infection include a high fever, cough, pink eye, runny nose, white spots inside the mouth and a rash. Severe complications can lead to death — roughly 1 to 3 out of 1,000 children who contract measles die, according to the CDC.
