# First Measles death in Texas - Feb, 2025, and now in other parts of the US **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 26, 2025, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-measles-death-in-texas-feb-2025-and-now-in-other-parts-of-the-us/1014834 "2025-02-26T16:56:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-measles-death-in-texas-feb-2025-and-now-in-other-parts-of-the-us/1014834/141 "2025-03-17T00:12:04Z")
I guess I’m slightly advantaged, I’m young enough to have had a full set of MMR vaccinations as a child, but when I went back to school for a while for a new degree (didn’t have a chance to finish) in my 30s, I didn’t have the documentation, so I just got a new set. I’m still not taking anything for granted, and after the vax-hostile new administration, I went ahead and stocked a number of N95 masks for the household just in case. Because I can’t _trust_ in any federal efforts to prevent spread of _any_ inflection, measles or otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-measles-death-in-texas-feb-2025-and-now-in-other-parts-of-the-us/1014834/142 "2025-03-17T00:13:33Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > > [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > > > …my nurse practitioner…[snip]…she thought I was likely immune > > No offense, but hardly a solid medical authority. Given she’s sussed out the cause of more than one medical issue I was having when MDs had not, and prescribed the correct remedy, I’m inclined to trust her judgment. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-measles-death-in-texas-feb-2025-and-now-in-other-parts-of-the-us/1014834/143 "2025-03-17T00:14:55Z")
I was going to add that your MD probably isn’t a solid medical authority either. I haven’t seen my PCP in years. I only ever see the NP. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-measles-death-in-texas-feb-2025-and-now-in-other-parts-of-the-us/1014834/144 "2025-03-17T00:17:01Z")
Ah, I see. I have seen my assigned PCP in the last year for something or other, and she’s excellent, but I’m fortunate to be a patient of a family practice with very good staff all around. And they see me promptly! ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-measles-death-in-texas-feb-2025-and-now-in-other-parts-of-the-us/1014834/145 "2025-03-17T00:55:16Z")
Be your own advocate, first. You’re just one of hundreds they see. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-measles-death-in-texas-feb-2025-and-now-in-other-parts-of-the-us/1014834/146 "2025-03-17T01:23:55Z")
She is following long established [CDC guidance](https://www.cdc.gov/measles/vaccines/index.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fvaccines%2Fvpd%2Fmmr%2Fpublic%2Findex.html) > Acceptable evidence of immunity against measles, mumps and rubella includes at least one of the following: _1) Written documentation of adequate vaccination, 2) Laboratory evidence of immunity, 3) Laboratory confirmation of disease, or 4) Birth before 1957_ . Before vaccines were available, nearly everyone was infected with these viruses during childhood. Most born before 1957 are likely to have been infected naturally and therefore are presumed to be protected against measles, mumps, and rubella. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-measles-death-in-texas-feb-2025-and-now-in-other-parts-of-the-us/1014834/147 "2025-03-17T01:45:53Z")
Okay, now I consider **that** an authority. 👍🏽 While it exists anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-measles-death-in-texas-feb-2025-and-now-in-other-parts-of-the-us/1014834/148 "2025-03-17T17:48:05Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > She is following long established [CDC guidance](https://www.cdc.gov/measles/vaccines/index.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fvaccines%2Fvpd%2Fmmr%2Fpublic%2Findex.html) I was born well before 1957, and I never had mumps, so I wouldn’t bet I had any kind of immunity. As I mentioned I got an MMR shot when my first child was born so I wouldn’t get it as an adult. I did have measles and rubella. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-measles-death-in-texas-feb-2025-and-now-in-other-parts-of-the-us/1014834/149 "2025-03-17T18:20:20Z")
No harm to getting a dose. The expert opinion however remains that memory of having had or not those born before 1957 likely had had disease. Still healthcare workers may opt for testing and two doses if not protective titers. So the “most” does not mean “all.” ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-measles-death-in-texas-feb-2025-and-now-in-other-parts-of-the-us/1014834/150 "2025-03-17T19:42:52Z")
Wonder why 1957? I was born in 1958 and had all three. When I started dental school in 1986 I had to get the MMR vaccine since it was a public school. There was no MMR vaccine when I started school. The requirement must have started after I graduated college in 1980. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-measles-death-in-texas-feb-2025-and-now-in-other-parts-of-the-us/1014834/151 "2025-03-18T01:45:03Z")
Born 1962 I probably had the earliest available vaccines - Mom didn’t want to deal with a sick child if she could help it! When I was in college in 82, there was a measles outbreak in the Texas universities, so I got another jab ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2025, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-measles-death-in-texas-feb-2025-and-now-in-other-parts-of-the-us/1014834/152 "2025-03-19T05:37:02Z")
I was once involved in treating a case of tetanus. For exposure in a non-immunized person, there’s antitoxin and antibiotics, and if the disease develops, it’s treated symptomatically. It didn’t have to happen to this person. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2025, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-measles-death-in-texas-feb-2025-and-now-in-other-parts-of-the-us/1014834/153 "2025-03-19T05:37:55Z")
Probably because most people born in 1957 started school in 1962, when the first vaccine was released. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2025, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-measles-death-in-texas-feb-2025-and-now-in-other-parts-of-the-us/1014834/154 "2025-03-20T01:15:20Z")
I know there are antitoxins and such. But once a muscle becomes paralyzed because you are unimmunized, I’m not sure you can do much for that. There could be something new I don’t know about. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2025, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-measles-death-in-texas-feb-2025-and-now-in-other-parts-of-the-us/1014834/155 "2025-03-20T17:15:01Z")
The denial is strong: Full Title: **Man Whose Daughter Died From Measles Stands by Failure to Vaccinate Her: “The Vaccination Has Stuff We Don’t Trust”** > **[Man Whose Daughter Died From Measles Stands by Failure to Vaccinate Her: "The...](https://futurism.com/neoscope/measles-father-defends-anti-vaccination)** > > The father of the first person to die from measles in a decade does not regret his anti-vaccination stance. > Identified only as Peter, the father at the heart of this tragedy is, like many others in Seminole, the small West Texas town at the center of the outbreak, a member of the traditional-minded Christian sect known as Mennonites. There’s apparently nothing in that group’s doctrine barring modern medicine, but like [many other conservative religious groups](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8858841/), many Mennonites are vaccine skeptics. > > “The vaccination has stuff we don’t trust,” Peter told _The Atlantic_. “We don’t like the vaccinations, what they have these days. We heard too much, and we saw too much.” ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2025, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-measles-death-in-texas-feb-2025-and-now-in-other-parts-of-the-us/1014834/156 "2025-03-20T18:02:05Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Children cannot receive the first dose of the Measles/Mumps/Rubella (MMR) vaccine until they are 12 months old, Your local epidemiologist says you can get the measles shot as young as 6 months. You still need to get two shots after age 1, for persistent immunity. But if there’s a lot of measles in your neighborhood, or where you plan to travel, you can get temporary protection for your infant. And i see the pediatrician among us says his practice will do that: > [@DSeid](#): > > we also have many more wondering about getting the second dose early (an option) or even the first one early (still need two additional beginning at 12 months plus. > [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I’m going to Texas in a couple of months and will be in large groups of people for almost a week, today I went and got the MMR and will get a booster in a month. So fucking stupid, all of this. You can also get your titers tested. For complicated reasons, i did that 6 years ago when measles was spreading in NY, and learned that I was immune to measles. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Like I keep saying, smallpox is next! Oh boy! I mean, my money is on Bird flu being next. Especially with Kennedy’s latest nifty idea: > **[RFK, Jr., Wants to Let Bird Flu Spread on Poultry Farms. Why Experts Are...](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rfk-jr-wants-to-let-bird-flu-spread-on-poultry-farms-why-experts-are/)** > > Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has repeatedly suggested that farmers should let bird flu spread through flocks. Experts explain why that’s a dangerous idea > And a no-cull policy would expose farmworkers to sick chickens, according to Koci. “You’re [exposing more humans](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-us-is-not-ready-for-bird-flu-in-humans/) to more chickens,” he says, “and just buying more lottery tickets for that pandemic strain.” ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2025, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-measles-death-in-texas-feb-2025-and-now-in-other-parts-of-the-us/1014834/157 "2025-03-20T20:42:34Z")
I was not aware of that. I had measles and mumps (I still hate pickles) before the vaccines were in use, but my childhood vaccinations for polio and various other diseases have held out. My rabies vaccination was given in adult hood, and last time I was bitten, it was still good. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2025, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-measles-death-in-texas-feb-2025-and-now-in-other-parts-of-the-us/1014834/158 "2025-03-20T20:46:40Z")
I take minor offense to that. My experiences with nurse practitioners show them to be more interested in my welfare and more careful in practice than most physicians. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2025, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-measles-death-in-texas-feb-2025-and-now-in-other-parts-of-the-us/1014834/159 "2025-03-20T20:48:46Z")
This seems like basic human psychology. If your choices led directly to your child’s death, wouldn’t you double down to avoid facing that you more or less killed your own daughter? The alternative, that your stupidity meant that your child suffered and died in vain, is hard to face. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2025, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-measles-death-in-texas-feb-2025-and-now-in-other-parts-of-the-us/1014834/160 "2025-03-20T20:58:16Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > …nurse practitioners show them to be more interested in my welfare and more careful in practice than most physicians. I absolutely agree about the caring and competence of most NPs. Questioning whether they represent a solid medical **authority** , i.e., are they a source of current, well-researched, authoritative medical practice guidelines? If so, yippee. Frankly, most physicians aren’t even that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-measles-death-in-texas-feb-2025-and-now-in-other-parts-of-the-us/1014834.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-measles-death-in-texas-feb-2025-and-now-in-other-parts-of-the-us/1014834.md?page=9)