The Latest Breaking News from the Texas Department of State Health Services

The state has recorded more than 3,500 cases of whooping cough so far this year, 10 times the number in 2023.

In school districts and charter networks with the most vaccine delinquencies, as many as 44% of kindergarteners were not complying with state requirements. The post More Texas kindergarteners coming to school without measles vaccination proof or exemptions appeared first on The Texas Tribune.

Many of the patients are being treated in Lubbock, a medical hub for the South Plains where the outbreak originated.

Fear of babies contracting the contagious and potentially deadly virus has spurred the surge in vaccinations amid Texas’ historic measles outbreak.

During a visit to College Station, the U.S. health secretary said Europe has a worse track record with the virus, which gets too much media attention.

Collin County has reported its first measles case, but it is not yet considered part of the ongoing outbreak from West Texas.

Federal grants paid for workers to help with measles testing and vaccination in Lubbock and were going to help equip a Dallas lab to test for pathogens, including measles.

Public health experts say Texas needs better messaging on vaccinations and quarantining and more people conducting contact tracing to contain the spread.

Five years after Texas’ first COVID death, the state spends less on public health, vaccination rates have dropped and a distrust of authority has taken hold.