Many of those infected in Gaines County were young and unvaccinated children. In Gaines County, which has a population of about 22,000, 15 cases of the airborne infectious disease have been reported since late January. Most of them are unvaccinated, school-aged children. Some cases appear to be linked to private religious schools in the district, according to South Plains Public Health District Director Zach Holbrooks. Although, the investigation is ongoing.
![[Texas law allow children to get an exemption from school vaccines for reasons of conscience]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/02/11/19/02/AP25041780525227.jpeg)
Texas law allow children to get an exemption from school vaccines for reasons of conscience. That includes religious beliefs. In Gaines, nearly 14 percent of children from kindergarten through 12th grade had an exemption during the previous school year. Many children there are also homeschooled. Earlier this month, health authorities had stressed that the spread was likely to continue. One of the county’s cases had traveled to New Mexico while they were still infectious, but there have been no immediate reports of infection spread.
Symptoms of measles may include a high fever, a cough, a runny nose, and a rash that starts on the face but then extends to the rest of the body. “The best way to prevent getting sick is to be immunized with two doses of a vaccine against measles, which is primarily administered as the combination measles-mumps-rubella vaccine,” Texas health authorities said in a statement. “Two doses of the MMR vaccine are highly effective at preventing measles.”.
