At least two cases of measles have been confirmed in a major immigration detention center for children and their parents Texas Cases of the deadly virus in South Carolina, Arizona, Utah and other US states continue to rise and scare experts.
In January alone, the US saw 25% of all confirmed cases last year, and the outbreak shows no signs of slowing as federal officials remain silent on the vaccine.
Many patients remain unvaccinated, while national campaigns have not been announced or recent announcements from leaders Robert F Kennedy JrSecretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Last year, Kennedy won the position Measles vaccines are an individual choice and recommended unproven treatments for highly contagious disease.
The measles outbreak is “frightening” and “very concerning,” said Jason Bowling, professor of infectious diseases at UT Health San Antonio and director of hospital epidemiology at University Health.
“Unfortunately I don’t see it slowing down across the United States,” said Anna-Kathryn Burch, director of the division of pediatric infectious diseases at Prisma Health Children’s Hospital in Midlands, South Carolina. What’s happening in South Carolina could happen anywhere with much lower vaccination rates, Burch said. “It’s not a matter of if, but more of a matter of when.”
The Dilley Family Detention Center in South Texas, one of the two migration Facilities for children in the US, two cases of measles were reported on Friday. “We are aware of the cases and are assisting by providing measles vaccine doses as requested by ICE,” said Chris Van Deusen, director of media relations at the Texas Department of State Health Services, referring to the US. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
A five-year refugee is also a similar facility Liam Rabbit Ramos And his father was held for a week after being detained in Minneapolis. It is also the facility where protests began on January 24 with children screaming: “Let’s go!” Children and parents are now locked down in the facility. Elizabeth Juna Caisaguano, who is reporting flu-like symptoms, and her mother have rashes — but neither has been tested for measles, they said. They say – was released from the facility on Tuesday night.
Joaquin Castro, a Democratic congressman from San Antonio, called for the “immediate closure” of the detention center. Castro said Delhi was ill-equipped to deal with a measles outbreak Post X. “Children and families who have committed no crime should not suffer and should not be in prison.”
Detention centers can be “epidemic engines” that “basically become factories that manufacture the virus at an incredible scale and at an incredible speed, and they inevitably break down the walls of these prisons,” said Eric Reinhart, a political anthropologist and psychiatrist who has researched the spread of Covid in prisons and jails.
The news highlights the rapidly spreading outbreak across the United States.
South Carolina reported the total 876 Measles cases and at least 18 hospitalizations Tuesday have already surpassed the official tally of all West Texas outbreaks last year and are still rising. Hospitals in South Carolina are not required to report hospitalizations for measles, but at least 18 children and adults have been hospitalized because of the virus. According to to the Department of Health.
Other states are also seeing continued outbreaks Arizona 239 cases and 14 hospitalized and Utah 251 cases and 23 hospitalizations. As of Friday, there have been 588 reported cases of measles in the US this year — and all but three have been local outbreaks. data From the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
As measles spreads rapidly in communities, the virus enters quarantine centers and proliferates. conditions – Moved from all over the country with children and parents and brought close to poor water, food and medical care. People without consistent access to health care may have lower vaccination rates in their countries due to poor infrastructure or political instability. About one in five measles patients usually require hospitalization.
“This is a major public health problem” because detention centers are “an ideal environment for the spread of measles,” Reinhart said. The authorities have Said They’re “stopping all movement inside the facility,” but there’s no way to end this kind of movement in and out of the detention center unless staff are also locked down, Reinhart said. “You can take steps to reduce it, but you really have to get people out of such situations.”
Jails and prisons often accelerate the spread of infectious diseases, spreading beyond the walls of institutions and into communities. “You’re exposing people to the spread of an epidemic — not just people inside the facility but people around it and eventually people everywhere,” Reinhart said. Release of prisoners Proven effective In stopping the further spread of Covid, Reinhart found, and he called for an end to decarceration and immigration crackdowns. “Abolish ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, which is basically a state terrorist agency,” Reinhart said.
ICE did not respond to the Guardian’s questions by press time, including whether detention staff were moving into the community and whether a vaccination campaign had begun.
Asked to confirm that Kennedy had made no public statements and that HHS had not launched any national vaccination campaigns against measles in recent months, HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said this was “absolutely false”: “Didn’t you follow us last year as well?” He did not respond to a request for evidence on both counts by press time.
In the absence of federal campaigns, much of the vaccination effort falls on state and local officials and providers.
“It breaks my heart that we’re seeing this in my state when we have a vaccine that’s so effective and so safe — we have a way to prevent this,” Burch said. “It’s a very difficult time for pediatricians right now because we’re seeing an increase in reluctance with vaccinations.” The MMR The vaccine is safe and the most effective way to end this outbreak, she said.
“It’s the main preventative measure we have,” Bowling admits. “Vaccination rates are very important.” Not everyone will respond to the vaccine or get it; Those who are pregnant or undergoing immune-compromising treatments such as chemotherapy can’t get the vaccine, and babies under six months old also can’t get the shot. That means infants and pregnant women, especially in the limited conditions at Delhi, are at high risk.
Health systems in places like South Carolina are now setting up incident command systems, requiring face masks, testing patients for potential contact and switching to telehealth and testing outside of emergency rooms for patients with measles.
“During the Covid pandemic we learned to be adaptive,” Burch said. “We are adapting to this outbreak and we are here to help people.”
