NYS issues measles health alert after death of Texas child
A sign at Seminole Hospital District offering measles testing on Friday in Seminole, Texas. Credit: AP/Julio Cortez
State health officials Thursday issued an alert on measles and urged New Yorkers to get their kids vaccinated, pointing to the recent death of an unvaccinated child in Texas, the first in the United States since 2015.
Current vaccination rates — even though they have increased on Long Island and across the state in recent years — continue to fall short of what is needed to reach herd immunity. Also known as community immunity, it is the vaccination level needed to protect a population and prevent a disease from continuing to spread.
So far in 2025, two cases of measles have been confirmed in New York City. In 2014, there were 15 cases in the state, including 14 in the city and one in Nassau County. Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 93 cases as of Feb. 20. But Texas health officials said there were 124 cases in that state alone as of Feb. 25.
"Measles is a very contagious, serious respiratory disease that causes rash and fever," New York State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said in a statement. "In some cases, measles can reduce the immune system’s ability to fight other infections like pneumonia."
In order to reach community immunity, at least 95% of children need to have received two doses of a measles vaccine, according to the state.
State figures show 64% of children on Long Island received one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine by the age of 2, up from nearly 58% in 2022 and 60% in 2021. The overall state percentage of children in that category was 70.5% in 2023, up from 61% in 2022 and almost 64% in 2021.
Department of Health spokeswoman Marissa Crary, in an email, said rates had fallen during the COVID-19 pandemic, but "we are returning to pre-covid rates of immunization."
When there are pockets of groups where vaccination rates are particularly low, such as the current outbreak in the Texas Mennonite community or the Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn in 2019, "it's easy for a forest fire to start with a spark because there you have a much larger percent of the population not immune," said Dr. Bruce Farber, chief of public health and epidemiology at Northwell Health.
He said people who have either had measles or received two doses of the vaccine are at very low risk of contracting the disease.
"So if you can get a large percent of the population immune, then it's never going to spread into the general population," Farber said.
Measles was considered eliminated from the United States in 2000, but a number of outbreaks have emerged in recent years, mostly among unvaccinated people. People born before 1957 are considered protected since they likely were infected naturally, according to the CDC.
Measles spreads from person to person by touching contaminated surfaces or breathing contaminated air, according to the CDC, which points out the virus can live up to two hours in the air. Symptoms include fever, red eyes and a rash that covers a person’s body. In extreme cases, measles can develop into pneumonia and encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain.Unlike COVID-19, measles is a highly contagious disease that impacts children, said Dr. Kerry Fierstein, CEO of Allied Physicians Group with a practice in Plainview. Since babies can only receive their first vaccine for the virus at 12 months old, they have no immunity to fight it their first year of life.
"People thought COVID was contagious, measles is orders of magnitude more contagious," she said. "It's unvaccinated people that are at risk, so you are talking about the most vulnerable of kids."
McDonald issued a new public service announcement urging parents to make sure their children are vaccinated. Federal guidelines advise children to receive one measles shot between 12 and 15 months of age and another between the ages of 4 and 6.
In recent years, a growing number of parents have been hesitant to vaccinate their children based on debunked theories connecting vaccines with a series of health problems.
Fierstein said people who are vaccine averse tend to be getting more reluctant to get vaccinated. On the other hand, some people are eager to get vaccinated because they are concerned about staying protected from measles and other illnesses.
"It is frustrating on one hand because you expect people to understand science, but I have sympathy and empathy," said Perry Halkitis, a public health psychologist and dean of the Rutgers School of Public Health in New Jersey. "People have belief systems that they've developed over time, and we have not done a very good job necessarily as public health people appealing to those aspects of humanity."
Newly appointed U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told agency employees last week that he will investigate the MMR vaccine schedule, according to published reports. Kennedy, an outspoken vaccine skeptic, has advanced debunked theories that vaccines are linked to autism. During his Senate hearing last month, Kennedy said if he is shown data that proves otherwise, he would recommend those vaccines and "apologize for any statements that misled people otherwise," but questioned data that was provided.
Two high profile cases on Long Island have highlighted the issue of vaccine hesitancy in recent years. Amityville nurse Julie DeVuono has been accused of lying about administering childhood vaccines, including the MMR. She has denied the charges. State health officials also fined Baldwin midwife Jeanette Breen for giving homeopathic pellets to children but filed records with the state saying they had received MMR and other vaccinations.
With AP
State health officials Thursday issued an alert on measles and urged New Yorkers to get their kids vaccinated, pointing to the recent death of an unvaccinated child in Texas, the first in the United States since 2015.
Current vaccination rates — even though they have increased on Long Island and across the state in recent years — continue to fall short of what is needed to reach herd immunity. Also known as community immunity, it is the vaccination level needed to protect a population and prevent a disease from continuing to spread.
So far in 2025, two cases of measles have been confirmed in New York City. In 2014, there were 15 cases in the state, including 14 in the city and one in Nassau County. Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 93 cases as of Feb. 20. But Texas health officials said there were 124 cases in that state alone as of Feb. 25.
"Measles is a very contagious, serious respiratory disease that causes rash and fever," New York State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said in a statement. "In some cases, measles can reduce the immune system’s ability to fight other infections like pneumonia."
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- State health officials are urging New Yorkers to make sure their children are vaccinated against measles after a Texas child died from the disease.
- Measles was considered eliminated from the United States in 2000, but a number of outbreaks have emerged in recent years, mostly among unvaccinated people.
- The number of young children who have received at least one dose of the vaccine in the state falls short of 95%, the number health officials said is needed for herd immunity.
In order to reach community immunity, at least 95% of children need to have received two doses of a measles vaccine, according to the state.
State figures show 64% of children on Long Island received one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine by the age of 2, up from nearly 58% in 2022 and 60% in 2021. The overall state percentage of children in that category was 70.5% in 2023, up from 61% in 2022 and almost 64% in 2021.
Department of Health spokeswoman Marissa Crary, in an email, said rates had fallen during the COVID-19 pandemic, but "we are returning to pre-covid rates of immunization."
When there are pockets of groups where vaccination rates are particularly low, such as the current outbreak in the Texas Mennonite community or the Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn in 2019, "it's easy for a forest fire to start with a spark because there you have a much larger percent of the population not immune," said Dr. Bruce Farber, chief of public health and epidemiology at Northwell Health.
He said people who have either had measles or received two doses of the vaccine are at very low risk of contracting the disease.
"So if you can get a large percent of the population immune, then it's never going to spread into the general population," Farber said.
Measles was considered eliminated from the United States in 2000, but a number of outbreaks have emerged in recent years, mostly among unvaccinated people. People born before 1957 are considered protected since they likely were infected naturally, according to the CDC.
Measles spreads from person to person by touching contaminated surfaces or breathing contaminated air, according to the CDC, which points out the virus can live up to two hours in the air. Symptoms include fever, red eyes and a rash that covers a person’s body. In extreme cases, measles can develop into pneumonia and encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain.Unlike COVID-19, measles is a highly contagious disease that impacts children, said Dr. Kerry Fierstein, CEO of Allied Physicians Group with a practice in Plainview. Since babies can only receive their first vaccine for the virus at 12 months old, they have no immunity to fight it their first year of life.
A sign outside a clinic with the South Plains Public Health District Sunday in Brownfield, Texas. Credit: AP/Julio Cortez
"People thought COVID was contagious, measles is orders of magnitude more contagious," she said. "It's unvaccinated people that are at risk, so you are talking about the most vulnerable of kids."
McDonald issued a new public service announcement urging parents to make sure their children are vaccinated. Federal guidelines advise children to receive one measles shot between 12 and 15 months of age and another between the ages of 4 and 6.
In recent years, a growing number of parents have been hesitant to vaccinate their children based on debunked theories connecting vaccines with a series of health problems.
Fierstein said people who are vaccine averse tend to be getting more reluctant to get vaccinated. On the other hand, some people are eager to get vaccinated because they are concerned about staying protected from measles and other illnesses.
"It is frustrating on one hand because you expect people to understand science, but I have sympathy and empathy," said Perry Halkitis, a public health psychologist and dean of the Rutgers School of Public Health in New Jersey. "People have belief systems that they've developed over time, and we have not done a very good job necessarily as public health people appealing to those aspects of humanity."
A nurse uses a syringe to prepare an injection of the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccination. Credit: AFP via Getty Images
Newly appointed U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told agency employees last week that he will investigate the MMR vaccine schedule, according to published reports. Kennedy, an outspoken vaccine skeptic, has advanced debunked theories that vaccines are linked to autism. During his Senate hearing last month, Kennedy said if he is shown data that proves otherwise, he would recommend those vaccines and "apologize for any statements that misled people otherwise," but questioned data that was provided.
Two high profile cases on Long Island have highlighted the issue of vaccine hesitancy in recent years. Amityville nurse Julie DeVuono has been accused of lying about administering childhood vaccines, including the MMR. She has denied the charges. State health officials also fined Baldwin midwife Jeanette Breen for giving homeopathic pellets to children but filed records with the state saying they had received MMR and other vaccinations.
With AP
Lisa joined Newsday as a staff writer in 2019. She previously worked at amNewYork, the New York Daily News and the Asbury Park Press covering politics, government and general assignment.
'I wish his life was longer' Long Island lost at least 5,800 years of life to fatal crashes in 2023. Newsday examines LI's dangerous roads in a yearlong investigative series. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn reports.
Top Stories
'I wish his life was longer' Long Island lost at least 5,800 years of life to fatal crashes in 2023. Newsday examines LI's dangerous roads in a yearlong investigative series. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn reports.
