STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Next, we meet some of the people affected by a number in the news.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
That number is 884. That is the number of confirmed cases of measles in the United States this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. So it's April, and we've already tripled the number of cases from last year. Years ago, officials thought measles had been eradicated. Officials also say vaccine hesitancy is a factor in the resurgence.
INSKEEP: Measles is in 30 U.S. states now, and we have a view of it this morning in one hard-hit county in Texas. Brad Burt, with member station KTTZ, went there. Hi there, Brad.
BRAD BURT, BYLINE: Hey, Steve. Thanks for having me.
INSKEEP: Glad you're with us. Where'd you go?
BURT: So I was in Gaines County last week, where a little less than half of all the measles cases in the country have been confirmed - 393, to be exact. What I saw was children playing out at a park in Seminole there, people coming in and out of a coffee shop on Main Street. But meanwhile, the MMR vaccine clinic set up by the South Plains Health District was empty. Zach Holbrooks, director for the district, says vaccine hesitancy has remained an obstacle to ending that outbreak.
ZACH HOLBROOKS: It's a lot of groups that are hesitant, so all we can do is provide the venue for people to either get tested, screened or get the vaccine.
BURT: At the beginning of the year, the vaccination rate for this county was 82%. Centers for Disease Control says at least 95% vaccination rate is needed to prevent outbreaks.
INSKEEP: I appreciate that perspective - the vast majority of people in this vaccine-hesitant county are actually not vaccine-hesitant. They've taken the vaccine. But some are not, and that leads to this problem. So what's being done?
BURT: Well, local health authorities set up a pop-up clinic in a building where livestock shows are normally held, and billboards and local TV ads encourage people to get vaccinated. There's messaging in English, Spanish and actually Low German for the local Mennonite community. And yet many here still don't trust vaccines. Pediatrician Dr. Ana Montanez says some parents have chosen to forgo the vaccine for other unproven remedies like vitamin A.
ANA MONTANEZ: That is our biggest nemesis - right? - is misinformation, at least from, you know, a health care perspective. I struggle with that every single day with almost every patient that I see.
BURT: Now, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. previously endorsed Vitamin A as a treatment for measles. He has since stepped back from that and has recommended the best treatment as the MMR vaccine.
INSKEEP: So you have a longtime vaccine skeptic, maybe the top vaccine skeptic in the country, saying the vaccine is good in this case. But I guess that comes too late for some people. So how has this affected especially children?
BURT: Yeah, most of the cases in Texas are children. The two deaths so far in West Texas were children. You have to ask why that would be. Well, here's an intriguing number. About 18% of students in public schools in this county claim conscientious exemption to required vaccines, and that's provided by state law. Dr. Montanez insists that vaccination is the best prevention. She says an ounce of protection is worth way more than a pound of cure. But she also says when she engages skeptics and answers their questions about alternative remedies like vitamin A, many have become more open to safer decisions. And when I was in Seminole, families continued to go about their daily lives. Schools were open, businesses were open and the virus continues to spread.
INSKEEP: Brad Burt with KTTZ in Lubbock, Texas. Thanks so much.
BURT: Thanks for having me, Steve.
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