Measles Crisis Spreads: 48 New Cases in Three Weeks! 

United States: Measles cases in the South Plains of Texas continue to rise exponentially through a spread that doubled its size over a short seven-day period. 

The Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed at least 48 patients had new measles symptoms in the last three weeks. 

More about the news 

Medical staff hospitalized at least fourteen persons in their facilities because of the disease. The Texas Department of State Health Services received previous reporting about this Texas outbreak from Fox News Digital. 

The Texas Department of State Health Services issued a warning that aged schoolchildren across Gaines County form the bulk of patients in this measles outbreak. 

According to health officials, “Due to the highly contagious nature of this disease, additional cases are likely to occur in Gaines County and the surrounding communities,” Fox News reported. 

The spread of new cases has occurred throughout Lynn, together with Terry and Yoakum counties. 

Why is it spreading? 

All patients involved were unvaccinated, and their vaccination status remained unknown based on the information provided by DSHS. 

The outbreak is under investigation. These recent cases have arisen after health agencies declared the “elimination” of the disease in 2000. 

The respiratory illness called Measles spreads rapidly from person to person and creates life-threatening conditions, as stated by the DSHS. 

The DSHS indicates the virus spreads through two main routes: transmission caused by droplet contact and airborne transmission from breathing or coughing and sneezing of infected people. 

Infectious virus particles can stay in the air for a period of two hours, following when someone with an infection departs from space. 

More about the disease 

The disease onset takes place seven to fourteen days after infection and produces a combination of symptoms such as elevated body temperature alongside coughing and nasal discharge together with reddened tear ducts, Fox News reported. 

Flat red spots emerge on the face before they expand their circulation to reach the neck and ultimately reach all other areas of the body. 

The transmission risk occurs mostly within eight days, starting from four days before the rash emergence and continuing four days afterward. 

Anyone who thinks they have got measles or has measles exposure should stay isolated and contact their doctor before seeking medical testing according to the DSHS guidelines. 

Medical authorities confirm that prevention against illness occurs through two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine.