Texas Measles Outbreak Spreads Across West Texas, Hospitalizing 99 and Killing Two Unvaccinated Children

A measles outbreak centered in West Texas spread from late January through mid-August 2025, with 762 confirmed cases statewide and 99 people hospitalized, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

“Also read: The previous record was held by Texas since last August”

Agence Science-Presse

The outbreak’s impact was concentrated among children and adolescents, and the American Hospital Association cited a CDC report finding that of the 60 hospitalized patients, nearly 91% were children and adolescents under age 18 and nearly 56% were age 4 or younger.

Agence Science-Presse

The same CDC hospitalization analysis reviewed medical records of 54 patients and found that all 54 were unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status.

In the Texas outbreak described by Houston Public Media, two unvaccinated school-aged children died, and the West Texas outbreak accounted for the majority of measles cases reported in the United States in early 2025 and was the largest of more than 40 outbreaks nationwide that year.

Two studies described by Gavi linked measles outbreaks to pressure on both health systems and school attendance, including an analysis of school absences in Texas after a significant measles outbreak concluded.

Gavi reported that absences recorded were roughly ten times higher than would be expected based solely on confirmed cases, and it said Stanford University researchers estimated that 141 district students had contracted the disease during the school year.

American Hospital Association

In the same Texas analysis, Gavi said absences rose by 41% compared with the same period in the previous two years, translating to 5,822 lost school days.

Gavi also quoted Stanford University’s Thomas Dee warning that “The costs of this absenteeism are not borne only by the sick children, but by all children kept out of school as a precaution.”

Houston Public Media tied the West Texas outbreak to falling vaccination rates and rising exemptions, saying more than 132,900 K-12 students had exemptions for at least one vaccine during the 2024-2025 school year.

“For years, anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F”

Ars Technica

The article also said the 2019-2020 school year had roughly 64,000 Texas students with exemptions on file, and it reported that the vast majority of exemptions were for reasons of conscience rather than medical conditions.

Ars Technica described a postmortem analysis in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and said the data showed “about 20 percent of people—mostly younger children—being hospitalized.”

Ars Technica also quoted the study’s conclusion that “The outcomes experienced by patients hospitalized during this outbreak underscore the seriousness of measles infection,” while the CDC hospitalization analysis in the American Hospital Association report showed all 54 reviewed hospitalized patients had no record of being vaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status.