NBC News
So far from 2025, more measles cases have been notified than in all 2024.
Most of the more than 420 cases have concentrated around the outbreak in the west of Texas, which has spread to the neighbors of New Mexico and Oklahoma. Other cases have been notified in people returning from trips abroad in some states.
Vaccination is the best way to protect against infection, but the first dose of the measles, paper and rubella (MMR) vaccine is not usually administered until the child has between 12 and 15 months. The second dose is administered between 4 and 6 years.
This calendar leaves children under 1 year unprotected. However, some parents are choosing to manage their young children a dose of the vaccine earlier than expected.
Dr. Ana Montanez, pediatrician of Texas Tech Physicans in Lubbock, an epicenter of the current outbreak, indicated that parents are calling to request an early dose of the triple viral vaccine.
“We have almost doubled the amount of vaccines That we administer in a normal month, “said Montanez.
Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Pediatrics Academy claim that, in case of outbreak or international trip, children of only 6 months can receive a dose of the vaccine, and children under 4 who have received a dose can receive the second before. All doses should be separated by at least four weeks.
Dr. Shilpa Patel, pediatrician of the New Jersey Hackensack Meridian Health Medical Group Northern Valley Pediatrics, declared that an early dose before 12 months is essentially an extra dose and does not replace either standard dose.
“It doesn’t count for the total,” Patel said. “Two doses are still needed after 12 months.”
Montanez said that it is because, “at this age of development, its immune system is not sufficiently developed so that the vaccine provides prolonged or life immunity.”
“Therefore, we would have to administer another dose a year and, essentially, a third dose at 4 or 6 years,” he explained.
Although the first doses are usually recommended when traveling abroad with children, Patel said that he is also beginning to recommend the Vaccine for children traveling to some parts of the United Stateslike Texas and Disney World, in Florida. Theme parks have been the scene of measles outbreaks in the past.
Don Gibson, 36, and his wife considered the possibility of vaccinating their two children, who are now 2 years and 4 months, when they were preparing in January to travel from California to Texas for a wedding in April.
“We were very excited to go, and they invited our children too, so we were going to take the whole family, but, after reserving our trip, including accommodation and flights, we saw that the outbreak was happening in Texas,” Gibson said.
This caused a conversation with the pediatrician of the family, who said they could give a second early dose to their 2 -year -old son and a dose to the baby when he turned 6 months.
However, the wedding would be held before the baby turned 6, and finally the family decided to cancel their plans.
Patel said even has begun to offer an early dose To families that do not travel, but are concerned about the increase in measles cases in their neighborhood, and pointed out the three cases of measles recently identified in their native state, New Jersey.
For now, doses for national trips and patients in places without active outbreaks are administered to the discretion of doctors and parents.
There is currently no official recommendation for people traveling within the country to places that experience outbreaks.
Some have asked that this be changed to include a third flexible dose.
In an article published earlier this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, former director of the CDC, and other experts proposed to encode an extra dose for high -risk national trips.
Montanez pointed out that it is not clear if insurance will cover an extra dose of the MMR vaccine.
He said that 80 % of his patients are in Medicaid and have their regular vaccines covered by the Texas Vaccines for Children program. But, because these particular doses are administered outside the standard calendar, it is not clear if they will be reimbursed.
Ultimately, the extra dose is an choice of parents.
“If you decide what you want to do it, it’s welcome”said Montanez. “If you don’t want to do it, you don’t have to obligation.”
