Measles is on a downward trend in the state, and the four people in Tarrant County who were infected appear to have not infected anyone else, Dr. Brian Byrd, director for Tarrant County Public Health, said during a recent meeting.
“The message is we’re trending in the right direction, however, we need to stay vigilant,” Byrd said at the June 2 Tarrant County Mayors’ Council meeting. “There are still pockets of unvaccinated people around Tarrant County.”
Measles symptoms appear one to three weeks after a person is exposed. Byrd said the 21-day window has passed since anyone was last exposed by the four people in Tarrant County who were infected. The four were family members.
“We don’t expect any cases stemming from those four cases,” Byrd said.
Measles is a highly communicable disease which spreads through the air or by touching contaminated surfaces. It is characterized by symptoms such as fever, cough, runny nose and a red rash. Those with measles can spread the disease during a period of four days before the appearance of the rash and four days after it appears.
The measles vaccine, which is considered to be extremely effective, is recommended when children are 12-15 months old and again when they are 4-6 years old.
“It is a remarkably successful vaccine, and I can take my public health hat off and just [put] my physician hat on — this is a remarkably safe vaccine,” Byrd said.
Texas has seen 742 total cases stemming from the outbreak near Lubbock since it began in January, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
However, the data does not include 33 cases which the state does not currently consider to be connected to the outbreak, including the four Tarrant County cases. The data will be updated as needed, according to the DSHS website.
McKinnon Rice is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at [email protected]. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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