Capital area leaders monitor measles outbreak in Texas

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — Community leaders in the Capitol area said they are closely monitoring the recent measles outbreak in Texas.

According to health officials, an unvaccinated child in Lubbock was the first measles death in the United States.

Local officials said if you’re vaccinated you should be OK and that is the reason why they’re stressing the importance of getting the vaccine.

Baton Rouge visitor Sharon Jones said she’s a vaccine proponent but understands people have the freedom to choose whether they get vaccinated or not.

“People have apprehension, fear and all of these emotions about substances going into their body,” said Jones. “We tend to care about the fact that they will work, they’re important.”

It’s a topic on people’s minds, as the first measles death in a recent, growing outbreak in the West Texas town of Lubbock.

A spokesperson for the City of Lubbock said the person who passed away was a school-aged, unvaccinated child.

According to the Texas Department of Health Services, over 100 cases of measles related to this current outbreak have been recorded near Lubbock. Most of those cases are in children ages five to 17.

U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) urges people to protect themselves with a measles vaccine.
               
“I recommend it,” said Cassidy. “We want the people of Louisiana protected. And by golly, if it’s coming down the I-10, it’s going to be in Houston, it’s going to be in Lake Charles, it’s going to be in Lafayette and Baton Rouge. Then it’s going to go up I-49 to Shreveport.”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said 18 people have been hospitalized in the Lubbock area, mainly for quarantine or respiratory issues.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, measles is a highly contagious respiratory virus that can survive in the air for up to two hours.

It can lead to dangerous complications like pneumonia. Other symptoms include – high fever, cough, runny nose, red, watery eyes and white spots on the inside of the mouth.

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