After first reporting a confirmed case of measles, Mexia ISD said it was actually Rubella. The state health department says neither is true.
After first reporting a confirmed case of measles, Mexia ISD said it was actually Rubella. The state health department says neither is true.
After first reporting a confirmed case of measles, Mexia ISD said it was actually Rubella. The state health department says neither is true.
MEXIA, Texas — The Texas Department of State Health Services said Friday there have been no recent cases of Rubella or Measles in the Mexia area.
That announcement came after the Mexia Independent School District first reported a confirmed case of Measles on Thursday, then just hours later said it was Rubella, also referred to as the German Measles.
The district first notified parents of what they called a confirmed case of Measles in a letter that they posted to the district Facebook page at around 2:30 p.m. Half an hour later, Director of Media Relations for Texas DSHS, Chris Van Deusen, said there were no cases of measles.
Thursday night, Mexia ISD Superintendent Ryder Appleton pushed a press release saying the district nurse made contact with the patient’s doctor who said it was Rubella.
6 News tried repeatedly on Thursday and again on Friday to reach Appleton but as of the time this story was published we had only received one email response.
“What was reported by the individual to the district was “Measles”.” the email reads. “We were able to get the treating physician’s clarification of “German Measles”.”
Around 1:30 p.m. Friday, Van Deusen sent 6 News an email in an attempt to clarify the situation.
“We’ve been able to piece together some more information on the Mexia situation and have determined that a child had a positive result on an antibody test that would show immunity from a previous vaccination or infection,” the email reads. “Sounds like it got misreported to the parent, who passed the info on to the school.”
When asked what the reporting process should be for school districts Van Deusen said the official reporting comes from doctors and laboratories.
“However, if a school gets word of a case or suspected case of such a condition, it would be a good idea to get in touch with their local health department or DSHS regional office so that we can coordinate with them, verify information, and provide some guidance on what their next steps should be,” Van Deusen said.
It was unclear if Mexia ISD contacted their regional DSHS office before reporting the cases.
Mexia ISD canceled all classes and extracurricular activities on Friday in order to do a comprehensive cleaning and sanitation of all classes and buses. School will be back in session as normal on Monday, March 3. Saturday’s events were also set to continue as planned.
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