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Grayson Co. Health Officials: Reported Measles Case Not Confirmed

WikiCommons

Grayson County health officials say reports of a local measles case have not been confirmed. Earlier this week a Facebook posting claimed that a county child had contracted measles. However, Grayson County Emergency Preparedness Manager Josh Stevenson says his office would be the one to tell everyone – not social media pages.

"The thing that kicks everything off is a positive, confirmed laboratory test that says this person or this sample is positive for this disease," Stevenson says. "That has not happened."

The Facebook posting stating the purported Grayson case was confirmed came one day after a case of measles was confirmed in neighboring Denton County. But Stevenson says no measles cases have been confirmed in Grayson county. Nevertheless, the posting immediately stirred up county residents, some of whom suspect that officials are hiding something. But, Stevenson says, any statements made before a lab confirmation would be irresponsible.

"We don’t guess, we don’t surmise," he says. "We have to have definitive evidence that it is a thing. Truth is, we just simply do not know as of this moment in time if there even is a case to begin working or not."

According to the Texas Department of Health and Human Services, a little over 90 percent of Grayson County children age 2 and younger have received their first vaccination for measles, mumps, and rubella, or MMR. Statewide, 97 percent of students in kindergarten were vaccinated against MMR in 2018.

That Denton County case was the seventh to be confirmed in Texas recently. Five of those cases are children.

This story was updated to include responses from Josh Stevenson.

Scott Morgan has been an award-winning journalist since 2001. His work has appeared in several newspapers and magazines as well as online. He has also been an editor, freelancer, speaker, writing teacher, author, and podcaster.