Dr. Leila Myrick had only read about measles at the medical school before a girl with the Telltale result appeared at the end of January in her emergency department in West -Texas.
The child, who had no immunity for the highly contagious disease but had an underlying respiratory disease, would be one of the first known cases in Gaines County in six years, the epicenter of the greatest outbreak of the nation. Since then, nearly 160 famous people have been infected, including 22 people who have been admitted to the hospital. And last week a school -going child died without underlying disorders, which marked the first measles in a decade. The outbreak spread over national provinces and is now suspected of having caused an outbreak in New Mexico.
Myrick, a 38-year-old general practitioner and midwife doctor in the small town of Seminole, looked back at medical texts to learn more about the disease, once thought that she was now approaching extermination in the US, she almost fell and treated. In just over a month, the rural doctor has become one of the only doctors in the country with first -hand experience with how contagious and serious, measles. And she is an ignorant expert in a disease she never thought she would treat.
“Now we literally see when you don't vaccine, this is what happens,” said Myrick.
Because the vaccination rates in the US have fallen, re -reconsideration of doctors and health staff throughout the country to prevent diseases such as measles that were not seen in generations.
The US explained measles eliminated in 2000. But the American immunization percentages have fallen in schools – which normally require vaccines for presence – below 95% herd of immunity threshold that is needed to prevent outbreaks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drops are attributed to distrust and wrong information about public health and vaccination that have led to an increase in medical or religious exemptions.
“Measles is the tip of the iceberg,” said Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, head of the infectious diseases division in Brigham and Women's Hospital and Professor at the Harvard Medical School. “There are other vaccine-in disease that we could see recurring, which could also have catastrophic consequences.”
In Gaines County, just over 80% of kindergarten were collected against measles last school year. In the Graafschap, Loopendent School District, with around 150 students, had vaccinated less than half of the students.
From Tuesday, more than 100 of the 159 cases of Texas were in Gaines County. Most cases are in children, mainly among those who are schooling. All cases belonged to the people who had not been vaccinated or did not have known vaccination status.
Dr. Leila Myrick, a doctor for general practitioner medicine and obstetrics in Seminole, Texas, is in the front lines of the largest outbreak in the country in six years.
From Atlanta to National Health
Five years ago, Myrick moved from her hometown atlanta – after studying at the Emory School of Medicine and achieving a doctorate in neuroscience next to her medical degree – to Seminole, where peanuts, oil, natural gas and cotton dominate the Texas plains. Instead of the famous research institutions of Atlanta, including the CDC headquarters, Myrick tried to practice treating families as a rural doctor. She moved her family to Seminole, population 7,231, where she liked the diversity. It is a mix of white, Mexican and Mennonite families and is about 80 miles southwest of Lubbock.
She and her husband raise two children aged 5 and 8, who go to local schools. Her parents -in -law live across the street. Seminol is like a village, she said. People look forward to each other and their children.
Her commuting is a 3-minute ride with one traffic light shortage enough that she doesn't even bother to turn on the radio. In her local supermarket, people put her in the aisles with medical questions. She urges them to make an appointment so that she can investigate them.
Before the outbreak, Myrick heard a lot of worries about vaccines, including in the Mennonite Community of Gaines County, where the measles first appeared in January. In the family clinic, parents Myrick said that no one got measles anymore, so it was not necessary to vaccinate their children. And it only caused mild disease, they said. Others claimed that vaccines cause damage, despite the vaccine that shows decades of safety. As their doctor, she advised that they get the vaccine, which is safe and effective.
Hesitation, wrong information about measles vaccine
Such claims have helped to return measles with force. Health experts mention statements of health and human service secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has previously argued against the measles vaccine for years and supervises his own health agencies.
In the current outbreak, Kennedy has traced outbreaks of measles and the severity of the disease and has made incorrect statements about the current outbreak, Dr. Said. Richard Besser, former acting director of the CDC who is now president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. A recent uprising by Kennedy called on parents to consult care providers about vaccination, adding the decision to vaccinate is a “personal”.
“We have conditions that are the case here, so much to prevent that we will see because we have some leaders who do not believe in science,” Besser said.
Pediatricians and family doctors now have to learn about diseases that are exiled to history, Besser added. They must ensure that they know what measles, polio and different types of meningitis look like. They must also understand insulation protocols for these diseases.
About a fifth of non -vaccinated people who get infected with measles are admitted to the hospital. Children who contract measles can develop pneumonia, the most common cause of death due to measles or brain inflammation that can lead to hearing loss or development arrears. Death takes place in approximately 1 to 3 in 1,000 infected children.
The best defense against measles is by far vaccination, said Besser, a trained pediatrician. The full series with two doses, administered for the first time around a year old, is 97% effective against measles. Only one shot offers 93% protection.
Measles is highly contagious and spread through contact with drops that are released from coughing, sneezing or talking. Measles can stay in a room or on surfaces two hours after a sick person has left. A contagious person can infect 18 others around them who are not immunized.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Focuses on a cabinet meeting of President Donald Trump in the White House on 26 February 2025.
With a diagnosis of measles, timing is crucial
Fever, cough or rash can be different problems. But doctors cannot afford to miss a measles diagnosis, Dr. James Cutrell, associate professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, in Dallas.
Given how infectious measles is, he said, the importance of early identifying to isolate the patient, test and confirm whether the measles are crucial to stop the spread. Another concern is that the symptoms usually develop a week or two after exposure. People can spread measles even if they do not show symptoms.
Myrick saw this firsthand. At the end of January, the infected girl arrived in first aid with an underlying respiratory condition that brought her an increased risk of the potentially deadly virus. After a doctor in an emergency had diagnosed her with measles, Myrick went to her medical texts to seek the disease to treat the girl.
She remembered the flawless, red spots that covered the body of the girl from head to toe. The child was placed separately, with hospital staff in full dresses and masks. During the child's stay, her rash turned into smaller red dots. Myrick thought she would be the only case.
Dr. Leila Myrick, a doctor for household medicine and obstetrics in Seminole, Texas, treated one of the first known measles stores in a continuous outbreak that is the largest in the US in six years.
“We took every precautionary measure that we could try to control it and keep it isolated for just that one patient,” she said. “And it didn't work. It didn't work at all. “
In the first instance, the outbreak in the Mennonite community of the region, which was under good with infected entire families. Myrick and employees have now seen cases among Latino babies too young to be vaccinated, but confronted with serious illness. Pregnant women, who run a special risk of a miscarriage or early birth of infection, are also in danger.
She expects more cases in the community. Many families call it describing symptoms of measles, but they are not tested and they do not receive any treatment unless the infections deteriorate.
Outside of Gaines, the outbreak has spread in eight other provinces, with expansions hundreds of kilometers away in and around San Antonio. Officials in New Mexico suspect that their outbreak, among the nine -infected people, is linked to the outbreaks of Texas, just in the state lines.
A sign with the lecture “measles testing” is seen as an outbreak in Gaines County, Texas, has expressed concern about its distribution to other parts of the state, in Seminole, Texas, US, 25 February 2025.
'Hope and Prayer' will not end with the outbreak
In addition to Texas and New Mexico, states in the neighborhood have much lower vaccination rates than herd of immunity needed to prevent outbreaks. For comparison: Texas and New Mexico had two dose of vaccination rates among toddlers with 94.3% and 95% respectively. But surrounding states – including Arizona, Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma – had immunization percentages below 90%, turned out to be CDC data from the previous school year.
“A lot and a prayer don't disappear alone,” said Dr. Kisha Davis, a board member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and a health officer in Maryland. Her health department, in Montgomery County, saw one measles store in a non -vaccinated person a year ago. Thanks to high immunization percentages, there was no outbreak, she said. “We must remain vigilant.”
In Seminole, a wooden plate read “measles testing” opposite the local health department. In addition to testing, civil servants have expanded vaccination sites. More people show up to be vaccinated, including those who once swore the shots, said Myrick, who recently became Chief Medical Officer for the hospital hospital. Others still do not believe in vaccines.
Myrick said her children are worried about catching measles. Their classmates have contracted the disease and her children are afraid of getting a result. Both children have been vaccinated, she reminds them. They don't have to be afraid.
This article originally appeared on USA Today: Texas Mazles Outbreak: Young Doctor quickly becomes' Nation's Expert
