Health Talk - Measles & Childhood Immunizations

In this episode, we discuss pediatric immunizations and measles with a wonderful guest expert who specializes in pediatric infectious diseases, Dr. Donald K. Murphey, a board-certified pediatric infectious disease specialist at Dell Children's in Austin, Texas. Learn more about the disease, how it is spread, and what we can do about it in this episode of Health Talk.

Measles is a highly contagious virus that is spread through the air via a cough, sneeze or just by an infected person’s breath. In fact, it is so contagious that if one person has it, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the CDC, states that up to 9 out of 10 people nearby will become infected if they are not protected by vaccine.

In 2023, according to the World Health Organization, an estimated 107,500 people died as a result of measles. Many of these deaths were in children under the age of five. In the United States, three people have died since the measles outbreak began earlier this year, and two of these deaths have been in children.

Earlier this year, in Texas, several measles cases were confirmed in a rural part of the state. Since those first cases were confirmed, an outbreak has been declared. This outbreak has been named the largest measles outbreak since 2000, when the U.S. declared the disease eliminated. The number of cases in Texas since this outbreak has risen to 750 cases, with 97 hospitalizations and two fatalities.