Measles Outbreak: Information and Resources for your Patients

Call to action: Texas Children’s Health Plan would like to bring the measles outbreak to the forefront and equip you and your staff with resources to share with your patients, our members.

Current status:As of March 28, 2025, The Texas Department of State Health Services is reporting an outbreak of measles in the South Plains region of Texas*. At this time, 400 cases have been identified since late January and 41 of the patients have been hospitalized. There has been one fatality in a school-aged child who lived in the outbreak area. The child was not vaccinated and had no known underlying conditions.

MMR Vaccine Recommendations in the Context of Local Outbreak

Texas Medicaid coverage of routine vaccines for measles follows FDA approval and mirrors ACIP recommendations, which recommend MMR vaccination for children 12 months of age and up. ACIP guidelines during a measles outbreak recommend that “infants aged 6–11 months should receive a single dose of MMR. For measles post-exposure prophylaxis in unvaccinated persons, 1 dose of MMR should be administered within 72 hours of exposure to a person with infectious measles, and the 2-dose series (i.e., the second of 2 MMR doses) should be completed ≥28 days later.”

Source: https://www.dshs.texas.gov/news-alerts/measles-outbreak-2025

How this impacts providers: Providers should prepare for increased patient inquiries about vaccinations, particularly for measles. It is important to encourage vaccination when medically appropriate to ensure patient safety and public health.

If you are running low or out of stock on vaccinations, there are other options for your patients.
Vaccinations are available from the following resources:

• Texas Vaccines for Children (TVFC) and Adult Safety Net Providers (ASN).
  • Use the maps located on the measles outbreak page to locate a TVFC or ASN provider.
• Pharmacies can vaccinate people 14 years old and older without a prescription. Children under 14 need a prescription to get the MMR vaccine at a pharmacy.

Next step for Providers: Providers should share this communication with their staff and when appropriate advise their patients to vaccinate in general for the best possible prevention and better health outcomes overall.

The following resources for your patients are available:  

• Protect Your Child from Measles (PDF): English / Spanish
• Protect Your Child from Measles (Texas Children’s website)
• Measles Outbreak in Texas (HHSC)

Provider resources include the following: 

• Texas Children’s Pediatrics Measles Tip Sheet
• Information on Shedding of Vaccine-Derived Virus following Vaccination
• Virtual Education Series: Measles Update in Texas (March 2025)

*The South Plains is a region in northwest Texas, consisting of 24 counties.

Bailey
Borden
Briscoe
Castro
Coch
Crosby
Dawson
Dickens
Floyd
Gaines
Garza
Hale
Hockley
Kent
King 
Lamb
Lubbock
Lynn
Motley
Parmer
Scurry
Swisher
Terry
Yoakum

If you have any questions, please email Provider Relations at: providerrelations@texaschildrens.org.

For access to all provider alerts: https://www.texaschildrenshealthplan.org/providers/provider-news/provider-alerts