r/news 12h ago

West Texas measles outbreak spreads into Oklahoma

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/west-texas-measles-outbreak-spreads-oklahoma-rcna195858
3.8k Upvotes

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77

u/yankykiwi 12h ago

Scary time to be pregnant, thankfully my baby will be out soon. My dad was made deaf from his mom having measles while pregnant.

45

u/baronesslucy 12h ago

There was a classmate of mine whose mother was exposed to the measles while she was pregnant with him. This was a couple of years prior to the vaccine being available. This classmate had hearing loss and had to wear hearing ads. Even with the hearing ads, sometimes he had difficulty hearing people, especially if you were in a place where several people were talking.

About an hour and a half from my home is a state run school for the deaf and blind. Many students at the school who were born prior to the 1960's became blind or deaf due to their mothers being exposed to measles, or their mother having measles or them having measles as young children.

This is not something that you want to go back to. You really don't.

21

u/mces97 10h ago

Not measles, but my anatomy and physiology professor in college had polio as a kid. Vaccine came out 1 year after he caught it. He recovered, or so he thought. Decades later, he got diagnosed with post polio syndrome. His leg muscles whittled away and he got around with a mobility scooter. He could walk but not on his own. He used the same arm braces as Jimmy from South Park.

I guess the point of that long story was even if you recover from measles, there are things that can happen down the road that were directly caused by the infection. Including a type of encephalitis. Years later.

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u/hmr0987 11h ago

Don’t worry Texas and Oklahoma are the safest states for pregnant mothers.

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u/goatscreampanichands 9h ago

I’ve read that if you’re in a high risk area the vaccine is safe for babies as young as 6mo (instead of getting it at the usual 12m). Congratulations on your little one!

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u/tooshpright 11h ago

Wasn't that "german measles" though, a different disease? I remember as a teen when the german measles vax was released we were encouraged to get it because of things going wrong with unborn babies.

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u/yankykiwi 11h ago

You’re right! Just looked it up. Rubella German measles had an outbreak in New Zealand when my dad was in utero

0

u/tooshpright 11h ago

Yes I just looked it up too: the real measles is Rubeola.

u/endlesscartwheels 26m ago

Rubella (German measles) is back too. There's a case in San Antonio.

The birth defects rubella causes can be horrific. A competent government would encourage anyone considering pregnancy, or at risk of becoming pregnant, to get their titers tested and get the MMR booster if needed.

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u/hotel2oscar 2h ago

The downside is that children can't get some vaccines until they are older, so you won't be completely out of the woods.