Local Health Officials Address Measles Outbreak

A person with measles can take up to 10 days to show symptoms including coughing, a runny nose, red eyes and a rash, said Emillio Carranco, director of the Student Health Center. Carranco said the virus is easily prevented with the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. He said university students are not required to receive the vaccine.

Only one case of measles has appeared in Texas, Carranco said. None have been reported at Texas State.

“Measles is making a comeback, and we’ll continue to have outbreaks if people don’t decide to continue to vaccinate,” Carranco said.

Carranco said the state of Texas requires children receive the MMR vaccination to attend public schools. Once immunized, a person is usually protected from measles for life. People at the highest risk are children under age 5 and adults over 20 who are beyond the vaccination requirements.

“We’ve really been lucky,” Carranco said.

He said the virus could spread easily at the university because students live and work in close proximity.

“If one infected person was exposed to 10 others without their vaccinations, nine of them would get sick,” Carranco said.

Students should check their medical records and speak with parents to help determine if they have received the MMR vaccine, he said.

Dawn Richardson is the national director for Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Verification (P.R.O.V.E.), a nonprofit organization educating parents about immunizations. Richardson said vaccines carry side effects for certain people.

“There’s two things I can guarantee you,” Richardson said. “You can’t predict who is going to have a reaction to the vaccine, and you can’t predict who it’s going to fail for.”

People could contract the measles even if everyone on campus were vaccinated, Richardson said. 

The outbreak in California cannot yet be termed as a resurgence of the measles, Richardson said, The present strain comes from overseas where the virus was never eradicated. 

Richardson said whether the reappearance of measles in the U.S. is related to declining vaccination rates is unclear.

The dangers of the measles were “exaggerated,” and the World Health Organization recommends Vitamin A for treatment, Richardson said

“There have been zero deaths from measles in this country (in this recent outbreak), so people need to keep that in perspective,” Richardson said.

Rebecca Herring, communicable disease nurse at the Hays County Personal Health Department, said all vaccines can cause side effects and must be weighed on a case-by-case basis. She insisted the MMR vaccine is safe.

“I’ve been (in Hays County) since 1995, vaccinating my kids and the kids of my kids, and they’re all doing fine,” Herring said.

Richardson said people should ask questions about vaccinations because doing so holds the vaccine manufacturers accountable.

“When you pay for a vaccine, part of what you pay for is liability protection for the manufacturer,” Richardson said. “If it was safe, why would manufacturers need that?”

University students should do their own research and draw conclusions for themselves, Richardson said. 

Carranco said no vaccine or medicine is without side effects.

“Having said that, the benefits (of vaccination) far outweigh the risk,” Carranco said.

 Jake Goodman is a reporter for the University Star where this story originally published. It is reprinted here through a news partnership between the University Star and Corridor News.