A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that more than 90% of the people hospitalized during the first two months of the 2025 measles outbreak in West Texas were children. More than half were under the age of four. Of the five adults who required hospital care for measles during that period, four of them were pregnant. Two of them delivered their babies while they were in the hospital for measles, and both babies tested positive for measles within two days of birth.
The CDC gathered this information from the available medical records of 54 of the 60 people who were hospitalized between January 20 and March 18, 2025. More than 70% of those hospitalized during these two months had pneumonia. Nearly 70% had hypoxia. 70% required supplemental oxygen. Four children were admitted to the intensive care unit; two required intubation and mechanical ventilation, and one child died.
All of the people included in this report were either unvaccinated or their vaccination status is unknown.
You remember that Texas measles outbreak, with its 762 known cases. Other outbreaks have followed, and 2026 looks like it will be a worse year than 2025 was thanks in part to Trump administration malfeasance. And the biggest victims were children, all of which could have been avoided by a simple vaccination. I’ve been hospitalized for pneumonia, it’s a terrible experience. Certainly one I wouldn’t have wanted my kids to have had. But plenty more of them are going to.