Fifteen cases of measles reported in small West Texas county with high rate of vaccine exemptions Fifteen measles cases — mostly in school-aged children — have been confirmed in a small county in West Texas with one of the highest rates of vaccine exemptions in the state.
South Plains Public Health District Director Zach Holbrooks said Monday that his department was first notified in late January about the first two cases in Gaines County, which he said were “two children who had seen a physician in Lubbock.”.
Gaines County has one of the highest rates in Texas of school-aged children who opt out of at least one required vaccine: Nearly 14% of children from kindergarten through grade 12 had an exemption in the 2023-24 school year, which is more than five times the state average of 2.32% and beyond the national rate of 3.3%.
Two cases of measles were reported in early January in the Houston area, but Holbrooks said the West Texas cases don't appear to be connected.
But the number of unvaccinated kids in the county is likely significantly higher, DSHS spokeswoman Lara Anton said, because Gaines County has many children who are homeschooled and whose data would not be reported.
