March 4, 2025 • 10 mins
El Paso Matters health reporter Priscilla Totiyapungprasert comes on the debut episode of the El Paso Matters Podcast to talk about the ongoing West Texas measles outbreak, and what it means for the El Paso region. You can read Priscilla's reporting on measles at elpasomatters.org.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi there, and welcome to the first episode of the El Paso Matters podcast.
(00:05):
I'm your host, Diego Mendoza-Moyers, and I'm a staff writer here at El Paso Matters.
You may have read an article or two on our website, but for the first time, we're taken
to the audio space to bring you more news and information about El Paso, and to share
insights and analysis from our reporters who crisscross the city to cover stories about
education, city politics, immigration, the environment, and all other things El Paso.
(00:28):
We're looking to continue our mission of sharing free, in-depth news and perspective
about the borderland, but now in podcast format.
For our first episode, we explore an ongoing measles outbreak in Texas, which claimed a
life of an unvaccinated school-aged child this week who was hospitalized in Lubbock.
It was a first known fatality for measles in the U.S. since 2015.
State officials have now reported over 100 cases, and 18 people in Texas have been hospitalized
(00:52):
with measles.
So far, no cases have been reported in El Paso.
To help us understand what's driving this outbreak of measles and the risk it poses
for El Pasoans, we welcome El Paso Matters health reporter Priscilla Totiapum Prasert.
Priscilla, welcome to the show.
Hey, thanks for having me.
So Priscilla, can you give us a summary of this measles outbreak?
Where did it start and among whom, and any perspective on the number of cases that we're
(01:15):
seeing in Texas so far?
Yeah, so the Texas Department of State Health Services identified the first case an outbreak
in late January.
This was in Gaines County, which is next to Lubbock, about a four and a half hour drive
from El Paso.
In the next couple of weeks, measles was confirmed in five other school-aged children.
They were all unvaccinated residents of Gaines County.
(01:38):
Since then, the outbreak has spread in not only that county, but multiple surrounding
counties, including one in New Mexico.
Altogether, there's been about, I think, 130 cases, more than 130 cases, sorry, including
more than a dozen hospitalizations.
As you mentioned, the first death was the school-aged child who was hospitalized in
(01:58):
Lubbock.
We don't have a lot of information about that, so we don't know if that person was living
in Lubbock, where they were living, but this is a pretty big deal.
Yeah, and how does this compare to past outbreaks of measles we might have seen in prior years?
This is a pretty big outbreak.
For comparison, there was an outbreak, the last one in El Paso was in 2019, and this
(02:23):
was six people.
This happened in Fort Bliss.
This is the biggest, the current outbreak is the biggest outbreak in Texas in about 30
years or so.
And why is Gaines County the epicenter of this outbreak this year?
In Gaines County, there is a low vaccination rate.
Last school year, only 82% of Gaines County kindergartners were vaccinated against measles.
(02:49):
That is way below the threshold for herd immunity, at least the CDC's target.
The thing about Gaines County is that there is a close knit Mennonite community there,
and that's where authorities believe the outbreak started.
Mennonites vary by community, but the more conservative ones tend to be more mistrustful
of medical institutions and vaccines.
(03:13):
There's no religious doctrine against immunization, so it is a personal choice if families choose
to gain an exemption from any of the school required vaccines.
Can you talk about the exemptions that students are able to get for vaccinations?
So Texas tracks exemptions by what's called conscientious exemptions.
(03:36):
Vaccinations are religious, personal reasons, and nationally, there has been an increase
in parents asking for exemptions from at least one school required vaccine.
I do want to clarify, there is a difference between a conscientious exemption and a medical
one.
So there are people who are not vaccinated for medical reasons, either, for example,
(04:00):
they're too young to get the vaccine, or there are health issues that they have that would
make it complicated for them to get the vaccine.
Pregnant people also cannot get the MMR vaccine.
So this is why doctors and public health experts really stress that if you are able to get
the vaccine, you should get it because we need that herd immunity to protect the vulnerable
(04:25):
people who can't get vaccinated.
Interesting.
And so how are measles transmitted and how severe is the disease usually?
Measles is a respiratory illness.
It transmits through breathing in infected droplets.
So it can also be droplets on surfaces, not just in the air.
(04:45):
And they can last in the air for up to two hours, as well as on surfaces.
So for example, if a child has measles and they leave a classroom, whoever enters that
classroom within the next two hours is at risk for exposure.
And the most visible sign is a rash.
It usually starts the hairline on your face, but it can take two weeks after exposure for
(05:09):
those symptoms to show up.
That means that if you're infected, you could be walking around spreading the virus without
knowing it.
How sick you get kind of depends on a few different reasons.
So two doses of the vaccine is 97% effective to prevent you from getting measles compared
to just one dose.
(05:29):
And if you're vaccinated, you could get a breakthrough infection, but your symptoms will
probably be more mild and it's going to be harder to spread the virus.
If you are unvaccinated, you will have a higher risk.
This is what doctors say, that you will have a higher risk of getting the more severe complications
(05:50):
and this includes blindness as well as brain swelling.
And so if you get a vaccination for measles as a child, is that the only time you need
it for your entire life?
The measles vaccine is supposed to be good for your lifetime, but there are instances
where immunity could wane.
There are tests out there that you can take to check your immunity level.
(06:13):
For example, when you're pregnant and they do a blood panel, they see like for that you
might have low immunity for rubella, but it should be good for your whole life.
So what's the vaccination rate in El Paso for measles and how does that compare to other
major communities in Texas?
In El Paso, so the MMR vaccine, that's the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, it is
(06:36):
required for schools.
And in El Paso, among kindergartners last school year, there was a vaccination rate of 96%.
That is higher than the CDC target of 95%, the threshold for herd immunity.
It is also higher than the state average and it is also higher than all the big major
counties where Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Fort Worth are located.
(07:02):
Why do you think the vaccination rates higher here?
What I hear from doctors and public health experts in El Paso is that people tend to
trust their doctors.
There was a big public health campaign, it's still actually going on right now, to get
kids vaccinated before the school year.
Yeah, would you say that getting vaccinated is the main way to protect yourself from measles?
(07:27):
Well, I am not a doctor, but from what I hear from doctors is yes.
Our health authority here in El Paso, Dr. Hector Ocaranza, as well as Dr. Mini Taneja
are public health director, they have both spoken in support of vaccinations as a preventive
measure.
(07:48):
And we're seeing some new policies among state lawmakers and the state legislature.
We're sick into limit vaccine requirements or question the need for vaccines generally.
Can you talk about some of these new policies state lawmakers in Texas are pursuing?
Yeah, so there is actually quite a flurry of bills that have come out since the COVID-19
pandemic started.
(08:09):
One of them, a Senate bill, has for example, if it were to pass, it would take away the
authority for schools to exclude unvaccinated students from attending school during an epidemic
or a public health emergency.
Along with what's happening at the state level, there's also what's happening at the federal
level.
(08:30):
Recently, at a cabinet meeting with Trump and the new health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy
Jr., it was brought up in the cabinet meeting about the measles outbreak, and RFK said that
it is not unusual outbreaks happen every year.
I think that mischaracterizes the current outbreak because this is the worst outbreak
(08:55):
in Texas history in about 30 years.
Also, there was a death of a child for a vaccine preventable disease, and there hasn't been
a death since 2015.
So I'm not sure I would characterize that as not unusual.
Yeah, and can you talk about the trend of declining vaccination rates that we've seen
(09:18):
in El Paso, which despite, as you said, we still have a high vaccination rate, we saw
a little bit of a decline after the pandemic.
I'm curious if that's a similar trend elsewhere as well.
So what's happening in El Paso is not unique, is happening nationwide.
There has been a decline in vaccinations.
What's alarming about this is that prior to vaccination, there were 400 or so deaths
(09:41):
that happened every year.
And after the measles vaccine was introduced in the 1960s, that number dropped significantly.
And by 2000, the CDC actually declared measles eliminated.
Eliminated in this case means that there hasn't been a continuous spread for 12 months.
So now we're seeing a resurgence of measles and it's making it come back.
(10:06):
And in recent years, we are seeing a higher number of cases now.
So something that was considered a thing of the past is now coming back.
And health experts worry that outbreaks are going to become more common.
This is only the beginning.
This is important reporting, Priscilla.
And we look to you to keep us updated about this measles outbreak in Texas going forward.
(10:27):
Thanks so much for joining me.
Thanks.
Thanks for listening to our first episode.
And we hope you'll follow our podcast and check out El Paso Matters.org to read all
of our latest reporting.
Hi there, and welcome to the first episode of the El Paso Matters podcast.
(00:05):
I'm your host, Diego Mendoza-Moyers, and I'm a staff writer here at El Paso Matters.
You may have read an article or two on our website, but for the first time, we're taken
to the audio space to bring you more news and information about El Paso, and to share
insights and analysis from our reporters who crisscross the city to cover stories about
education, city politics, immigration, the environment, and all other things El Paso.
(00:28):
We're looking to continue our mission of sharing free, in-depth news and perspective
about the borderland, but now in podcast format.
For our first episode, we explore an ongoing measles outbreak in Texas, which claimed a
life of an unvaccinated school-aged child this week who was hospitalized in Lubbock.
It was a first known fatality for measles in the U.S. since 2015.
State officials have now reported over 100 cases, and 18 people in Texas have been hospitalized
(00:52):
with measles.
So far, no cases have been reported in El Paso.
To help us understand what's driving this outbreak of measles and the risk it poses
for El Pasoans, we welcome El Paso Matters health reporter Priscilla Totiapum Prasert.
Priscilla, welcome to the show.
Hey, thanks for having me.
So Priscilla, can you give us a summary of this measles outbreak?
Where did it start and among whom, and any perspective on the number of cases that we're
(01:15):
seeing in Texas so far?
Yeah, so the Texas Department of State Health Services identified the first case an outbreak
in late January.
This was in Gaines County, which is next to Lubbock, about a four and a half hour drive
from El Paso.
In the next couple of weeks, measles was confirmed in five other school-aged children.
They were all unvaccinated residents of Gaines County.
(01:38):
Since then, the outbreak has spread in not only that county, but multiple surrounding
counties, including one in New Mexico.
Altogether, there's been about, I think, 130 cases, more than 130 cases, sorry, including
more than a dozen hospitalizations.
As you mentioned, the first death was the school-aged child who was hospitalized in
(01:58):
Lubbock.
We don't have a lot of information about that, so we don't know if that person was living
in Lubbock, where they were living, but this is a pretty big deal.
Yeah, and how does this compare to past outbreaks of measles we might have seen in prior years?
This is a pretty big outbreak.
For comparison, there was an outbreak, the last one in El Paso was in 2019, and this
(02:23):
was six people.
This happened in Fort Bliss.
This is the biggest, the current outbreak is the biggest outbreak in Texas in about 30
years or so.
And why is Gaines County the epicenter of this outbreak this year?
In Gaines County, there is a low vaccination rate.
Last school year, only 82% of Gaines County kindergartners were vaccinated against measles.
(02:49):
That is way below the threshold for herd immunity, at least the CDC's target.
The thing about Gaines County is that there is a close knit Mennonite community there,
and that's where authorities believe the outbreak started.
Mennonites vary by community, but the more conservative ones tend to be more mistrustful
of medical institutions and vaccines.
(03:13):
There's no religious doctrine against immunization, so it is a personal choice if families choose
to gain an exemption from any of the school required vaccines.
Can you talk about the exemptions that students are able to get for vaccinations?
So Texas tracks exemptions by what's called conscientious exemptions.
(03:36):
Vaccinations are religious, personal reasons, and nationally, there has been an increase
in parents asking for exemptions from at least one school required vaccine.
I do want to clarify, there is a difference between a conscientious exemption and a medical
one.
So there are people who are not vaccinated for medical reasons, either, for example,
(04:00):
they're too young to get the vaccine, or there are health issues that they have that would
make it complicated for them to get the vaccine.
Pregnant people also cannot get the MMR vaccine.
So this is why doctors and public health experts really stress that if you are able to get
the vaccine, you should get it because we need that herd immunity to protect the vulnerable
(04:25):
people who can't get vaccinated.
Interesting.
And so how are measles transmitted and how severe is the disease usually?
Measles is a respiratory illness.
It transmits through breathing in infected droplets.
So it can also be droplets on surfaces, not just in the air.
(04:45):
And they can last in the air for up to two hours, as well as on surfaces.
So for example, if a child has measles and they leave a classroom, whoever enters that
classroom within the next two hours is at risk for exposure.
And the most visible sign is a rash.
It usually starts the hairline on your face, but it can take two weeks after exposure for
(05:09):
those symptoms to show up.
That means that if you're infected, you could be walking around spreading the virus without
knowing it.
How sick you get kind of depends on a few different reasons.
So two doses of the vaccine is 97% effective to prevent you from getting measles compared
to just one dose.
(05:29):
And if you're vaccinated, you could get a breakthrough infection, but your symptoms will
probably be more mild and it's going to be harder to spread the virus.
If you are unvaccinated, you will have a higher risk.
This is what doctors say, that you will have a higher risk of getting the more severe complications
(05:50):
and this includes blindness as well as brain swelling.
And so if you get a vaccination for measles as a child, is that the only time you need
it for your entire life?
The measles vaccine is supposed to be good for your lifetime, but there are instances
where immunity could wane.
There are tests out there that you can take to check your immunity level.
(06:13):
For example, when you're pregnant and they do a blood panel, they see like for that you
might have low immunity for rubella, but it should be good for your whole life.
So what's the vaccination rate in El Paso for measles and how does that compare to other
major communities in Texas?
In El Paso, so the MMR vaccine, that's the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, it is
(06:36):
required for schools.
And in El Paso, among kindergartners last school year, there was a vaccination rate of 96%.
That is higher than the CDC target of 95%, the threshold for herd immunity.
It is also higher than the state average and it is also higher than all the big major
counties where Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Fort Worth are located.
(07:02):
Why do you think the vaccination rates higher here?
What I hear from doctors and public health experts in El Paso is that people tend to
trust their doctors.
There was a big public health campaign, it's still actually going on right now, to get
kids vaccinated before the school year.
Yeah, would you say that getting vaccinated is the main way to protect yourself from measles?
(07:27):
Well, I am not a doctor, but from what I hear from doctors is yes.
Our health authority here in El Paso, Dr. Hector Ocaranza, as well as Dr. Mini Taneja
are public health director, they have both spoken in support of vaccinations as a preventive
measure.
(07:48):
And we're seeing some new policies among state lawmakers and the state legislature.
We're sick into limit vaccine requirements or question the need for vaccines generally.
Can you talk about some of these new policies state lawmakers in Texas are pursuing?
Yeah, so there is actually quite a flurry of bills that have come out since the COVID-19
pandemic started.
(08:09):
One of them, a Senate bill, has for example, if it were to pass, it would take away the
authority for schools to exclude unvaccinated students from attending school during an epidemic
or a public health emergency.
Along with what's happening at the state level, there's also what's happening at the federal
level.
(08:30):
Recently, at a cabinet meeting with Trump and the new health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy
Jr., it was brought up in the cabinet meeting about the measles outbreak, and RFK said that
it is not unusual outbreaks happen every year.
I think that mischaracterizes the current outbreak because this is the worst outbreak
(08:55):
in Texas history in about 30 years.
Also, there was a death of a child for a vaccine preventable disease, and there hasn't been
a death since 2015.
So I'm not sure I would characterize that as not unusual.
Yeah, and can you talk about the trend of declining vaccination rates that we've seen
(09:18):
in El Paso, which despite, as you said, we still have a high vaccination rate, we saw
a little bit of a decline after the pandemic.
I'm curious if that's a similar trend elsewhere as well.
So what's happening in El Paso is not unique, is happening nationwide.
There has been a decline in vaccinations.
What's alarming about this is that prior to vaccination, there were 400 or so deaths
(09:41):
that happened every year.
And after the measles vaccine was introduced in the 1960s, that number dropped significantly.
And by 2000, the CDC actually declared measles eliminated.
Eliminated in this case means that there hasn't been a continuous spread for 12 months.
So now we're seeing a resurgence of measles and it's making it come back.
(10:06):
And in recent years, we are seeing a higher number of cases now.
So something that was considered a thing of the past is now coming back.
And health experts worry that outbreaks are going to become more common.
This is only the beginning.
This is important reporting, Priscilla.
And we look to you to keep us updated about this measles outbreak in Texas going forward.
(10:27):
Thanks so much for joining me.
Thanks.
Thanks for listening to our first episode.
And we hope you'll follow our podcast and check out El Paso Matters.org to read all
of our latest reporting.
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