“Anti-vaxers” and The Texas measles Outbreak

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1 May, 2025

“Anti-vaxers” and The Texas measles Outbreak 

        In January 2025, the United States experienced one of the worst measles outbreaks in the country’s recent history, with 800 confirmed cases, dossens of hospitalizations, including severe pediatric cases requiring intensive care, and at least two deaths (WHO, 2025). Public health officials traced the outbreak to declining vaccination rates, specifically in Texas, where they had fallen below the 95% threshold required for herd immunity in several counties, (Texas DSHS, 2024; Ashley, et al., 2022). This decline was fueled by persistent anti-vaccine rhetoric that spread misinformation – eroding public trust in immunization and contributing to widespread vaccine hesitancy in west Texas. The consequences were dire, with unvaccinated communities serving as epicenters for the highly contagious virus – eventually leading to a full scale epidemic, (Texas DSHS, 2025).  

        In this paper, I will argue that anti-vaccine rhetoric led to this epidemic occurring through four key mechanisms. The spread of false information often links vaccines to psychological or physiological disorders, despite overwhelming scientific consensus to the contrary – causing individuales to refuse vaccinations. Social media algorithms often amplify anti-vaccine content to those who encounter it — making misinformation more accessible. Non-medical vaccine exemptions led to measles cases in specific counties dropping below the 95% threshold required for herd immunity, which created epicenters for the epidemic. 

        Lastly, the politicization of public health measures by fascist actors has discouraged vaccination efforts by framing immunization as a partisan issue rather than a necessity. These factors led to the development of anti-vaccine rhetoric in the United States, especially in Texas, and culminated in the systematic undermining of herd immunity – leading to preventable public health crises with respect to measles. 

        One of the primary drivers of vaccine hesitancy in Texas has been the persistent myth that vaccines, specifically, the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, cause autism. This false claim likely originated from Andrew Wakefield’s fraudulent 1998 study, which was retracted by The Lancet and discredited by the scientific community (DeStefano et al., 2019). Subsequent large-scale epidemiological studies involving millions of children have found no credible link between vaccines and autism (Hviid et al., 2019; Taylor et al., 2014). Despite this, anti-vaccine pseudo-activists continue to propagate the myth – leading parents to forgo essential immunizations for their children. In Texas, groups such as “Texans for Vaccine Choice” have disseminated pamphlets, hosted seminars, and lobbied state legislators to promote vaccine skepticism. They often cite false studies (Yang et al., 2023). A 2024 survey by the Texas Medical Association found that more parents in rural Texas believed vaccines could cause autism than those in states with stricter vaccine mandates (TMA, 2024). This misinformation has had measurable consequences: vaccination rates in some Texas counties dropped below 80%, far lower than the 95% needed for herd immunity (Texas DSHS, 2024).  

At a local public school district in the community of Loop, only 46% of kindergarten students have gotten vaccines against measles, mumps, and rubella. Vaccination rates may be even lower at private schools and within homeschool groups, which don't always report the information. (News Medical, 2025)

        The January 2025 outbreak was concentrated in areas with the highest rates of vaccine refusal, demonstrating a direct correlation between misinformation and disease resurgence. Pediatricians in the region reported that a majority of infected children were unvaccinated due to parental fears of autism, despite extensive medical evidence to the contrary (AAP, 2025).  

        Social media platforms have played a significant role in exacerbating vaccine hesitancy by amplifying anti-vaccine rhetoric. Studies show that misinformation spreads much faster than factual information on platforms like Facebook and “X”. Profit-motivated algorithms prioritize engagement, meaning sensationalist and fear-based content, such as claims that vaccines contain "toxic" ingredients, cause disorders, etc. reaches wider audiences than evidence-based public health messages if the former are encountered by the user first, (Vosoughi et al., 2018). 

We classified news as true or false using information from six independent fact-checking organizations that exhibited 95 to 98% agreement on the classifications. Falsehood diffused significantly farther, faster, deeper, and more broadly than the truth in all categories of information, and the effects were more pronounced for false political news than for false news about terrorism, natural disasters, science, urban legends, or financial information. (Vosoughi et al., 2018)

        In Texas, anti-vaccine influencers have leveraged these algorithms to target vulnerable populations. A 2024 study by the University of Texas found that nearly half of vaccine-related posts on Texas-based social media contained misinformation (Zimmerman et al., 2023). This misinformation led to increased refusal of the MMR vaccine, particularly among young parents who rely on social media for health information. When the outbreak began in January 2025, public health agencies struggled to counter the flood of misinformation. 

        Texas is one of only a few states that permit personal belief exemptions (PBEs) for school vaccine requirements, making it easier for parents to forgo immunizations for non-medical reasons – leading to immunization numbers falling below the county-based 95% threshold necessary to maintain herd immunity. Unlike most states, which only allow exemptions for medical or religious reasons, Texas law (Texas Health and Safety Code § 161.0041) joins 18 others in permitting parents to opt out of vaccinations due to personal or philosophical objections with a simple affidavit, (Olive JK et al., 2018). 

Public health practitioners warn such outbreaks will become more common because of scores of laws around the U.S. — pending and passed — that ultimately lower vaccine rates. Many of the measures allow parents to more easily exempt their children from school vaccine requirements, and a swell of vaccine misinformation has led to record rates of exemptions. (News Medical, 2025)

        Leniency in this regard has contributed to lower vaccination rates in some communities, increasing the risk of preventable disease outbreaks. Data from the Texas Department of State Health Services (2023) shows that non-medical exemptions have risen steadily, particularly in affluent areas where vaccine hesitancy is more prevalent. The January 2025 outbreak was particularly severe in schools with high PBE rates. For example, an Bell County-based school with a 25% exemption rate became an early epicenter of the outbreak, (CDC, 2025; Texas DSHS, 2025). Public health experts warn that PBEs undermine herd immunity, putting vulnerable populations, such as immunocompromised children, at greater risk.  (Hotez, 2018). Religious and “conscientious” based exemptions clearly have no basis in reality, and only serve to exacerbate the collapse of herd immunity.

        The anti-vaccine movement has increasingly aligned itself with fascism, or vice-versa depending on circumstance, particularly in far-right states, such as Texas. During the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine skepticism became entangled with partisan rhetoric, with the Trump administration and the fascist “Republican Party” framing public health mandates as attacks on personal freedom, (Baumgaertner et al., 2022). 

While large shares of the public continue to express positive attitudes toward childhood vaccines and school vaccination requirements, some trends suggest the level of support may be eroding somewhat among Republicans and parents. 

About eight in ten (82%) parents say they normally keep their children up to date with recommended childhood vaccines like the MMR, while about one in six (17%) report delaying or skipping some shots, up from 10% in 2023. The change is most pronounced among Republican and Republican-leaning parents, about one in four (26%) of whom now report skipping or delaying some vaccines for their children, up from 13% in 2023. (KFF, 2025)

        Those who identify with the “Republican Party” are vastly more likely to refuse vaccination for themselves and their children than rationally-acting individuals. This politicization extended to childhood vaccines, with some Texas lawmakers advocating for further loosening of immunization requirements. In 2023, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 7 which barred all private employers from mandating vaccines, under threat of a hefty fine and investigation, (Texas Legislature, 2024). When the measles outbreak began, many parents resisted containment measures, such as quarantine orders and emergency vaccination drives – viewing them as government coercion. 

        A survey conducted during the outbreak found that many of the unvaccinated individuals in Texas believed the threat of infectious diseases like measles was exaggerated for political reasons (KFF, 2025). This resistance allowed the virus to spread rapidly, overwhelming pediatric hospitals and leading to preventable deaths.  

        The January 2025 measles outbreak in Texas was not an inevitable tragedy but the direct result of decades of anti-vaccine misinformation eroding public trust, social media platforms pushing anti-vaccine rhetoric and misinformation, lax exemption policies enabling unvaccinated clusters, and fascist political actors obstructing science-based solutions. False claims about vaccine safety, amplified by social media algorithms, fueled hesitancy, while exploitative religious and conscientious belief exemptions allowed immunization rates to fall below the herd immunity threshold. Fascist rhetoric framing vaccines as a partisan issue further discouraged compliance among those who’s politics aligned with the “Republican Party”, leaving vulnerable populations unprotected and reversing decades of inoculation progress. The outbreak has exposed the deadly consequences of prioritizing profit, hate, and fear over public health, as preventable diseases resurged in communities weakened by misinformation and policy failures.

        To prevent future outbreaks, the Texan people must take decisive, and potentially militant action: resisting non-medical vaccine exemptions, regulating and learning about misinformation on social media by fact checking and holding platforms accountable for promoting false health claims, and depoliticizing public health by understanding  evidence-based immunization policies and resisting the fascist state-government. If violent force is required to maintain herd immunity, so be it. The consequences of inaction are clear: more outbreaks, more hospitalizations, and more deaths. Vaccines are one of humanity's greatest achievements. Vaccines protect humanity against extinction. Humanity must protect itself, by any means necessary.

Works Cited

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Disclaimer: I do not use AI, but I have been told that my nonfiction writing has that tone. All I can do is promise you that this is my writing and my writing alone.