A West Texas health official praised for her efforts in curbing a measles outbreak that swept the region last year is going against traditional public health guidance in the face of new outbreaks across the country — suggesting that health officials let the virus “run through” communities where people are hesitant to get vaccinated.
Dr. Katherine Wells is the director of the Lubbock Public Health Department, whose facilities treated many of the 99 people who were hospitalized during last year’s outbreak, the nation’s largest in 25 years. Wells had a monumental crisis on her hands: The virus infected more than 700 people and killed two otherwise healthy children in the region, where immunization rates among kids were plummeting as anti-vaccine sentiment thrived. Despite the roadblocks, Wells’ plan to respond was straightforward and simple: Get more people vaccinated.
“Local public health department directors have an uphill battle — responding to measles and trying to get people vaccinated with a vaccine that we’ve had for over 50 years,” Wells told The 19th last year. “You’d hope people would trust and believe that that’s what we need to do.”…