Health experts in the D.C. area say the measles outbreak that has sickened at least 90 people in Texas has the potential to spread to other states.
"I do think it’ll go to other states. That’s just the nature of what we see with viruses," said Dr. Kavita Patel, a primary care physician at Mary’s Center in D.C. "And I think it’s important to remember that in the early stages of COVID, we thought it was limited to the Pacific Northwest."
Measles anywhere is a threat everywhere, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
What are the symptoms of measles?
We've got the news you need to know to start your day. Sign up for the First & 4Most morning newsletter — delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.
The respiratory virus is one of the most contagious diseases on the planet, the World Health Organization said.
It’s most common in children. Symptoms include a fever, cough and rash, but can also escalate to blindness, brain swelling, pneumonia and even death.
Patel saw measles once in a patient in India.
Health
"It had unfortunately gotten to their brain and, unfortunately, caused permanent brain damage," she said.
Measles' effects can be long-lasting
Elizabeth Wilde said she was in the second grade when she had the measles. Decades later, she still remembers the brutality of the virus.
"I developed a fever and was sick very fast," Wilde said. "I remember screaming and screaming. I was having hallucinations."
But her mom later told her, "'You were not making any sound. She said, 'You sounded like a dying kitten.'"
Wilde said the measles vaccine was available at the time, but not yet widespread.
"I’ve had an imbalance with my vision ever since then. I have prisms in my glasses because I have an eye that doesn’t work with the other eye," she said. "It’s sad to me that these things are coming back."
What to know about the measles vaccine
The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine has proven safe for decades and has likely saved at least 60 million lives.
Before the vaccine was invented in 1963, measles killed about 2.6 million people every year. Now, that number is just over 100,000, with most deaths being in unvaccinated people.
"There’s really been this almost global eradication of measles, because of the availability and the effectiveness of the vaccine," Patel said.
Typically, kids get the measles vaccine in two doses: the first when they turn 1, and the second when they turn 4 or 5.
Patel said parents who have babies younger than a year old and are worried about them getting measles can talk to their pediatrician about moving up their first vaccine dose to when they're 6 months old.
"And then you only need to wait 28 days for that second dose," she said. "Normally we wait several years for that second dose, but that’s to line it up with other shots that we give in childhood."
All but five of the people who have gotten the measles in Texas were unvaccinated, health officials said.
The outbreak comes as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. leads the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy has previously raised concerns about vaccine safety and effectiveness.
President Donald Trump previously said he wouldn’t rule out letting Kennedy ban certain vaccines.
Wilde said it’s been difficult to watch vaccine effectiveness being questioned.
"Why would you put your child through that?" she said. "I feel sad and I feel concerned that unnecessary suffering is happening."
Patel said people born in the 1960s, '70s or '80s who only got one dose of the measles vaccine might want to consider getting a second dose.
The CDC says 95% of a community needs to be vaccinated for herd immunity.
Many affected Texas communities have vaccination rates below that, such as 82% for kindergarteners in the Seminole Independent School District.
