Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo announced Tuesday that a local child younger than two-years-old has tested presumptive positive for monkeypox, marking the first pediatric case of the virus reported in Texas. During the news conference, Hidalgo said the child, who has not been in daycare or school, is currently asymptomatic with a rash, but is "doing very well" and is expected to make a full recovery.
County officials are currently conducting contract tracing and have not yet determined how the virus was transmitted. Hidalgo said all who have come in direct contact with the child are being offered the vaccine, adding that so far, no one in the child's circle has tested presumptive positive for the virus. "This opens up a lot of questions about how this rare case occurred," Hidalgo said.
Harris County and City of Houston to Provide Monkeypox Update on Vaccination Efforts https://t.co/PfpWmHi7Ym
— Office of Judge Lina Hidalgo (@HarrisCoJudge) August 16, 2022The Democratic judge said this "rare" case is only the seventh U.S. child with a confirmed positive result, and it is the first and only positive case for a Texas child. "I understand that it's a very scary thing and parents have concerns," Hidalgo said. "What we need to make sure is to be vigilant and understand the risks, not assume the worst. But this reminds us that this is very real."
As of Tuesday's conference, the number of active monkeypox cases in Harris County and Houston has now risen to 269—tallying 228 in Houston and 41 cases in other areas of Harris County. The county has a limited supply of vaccines, Hidalgo said, adding that Harris County will receive about 9,000 doses for the virus, as opposed to 25,000 doses the county was initially set to receive in the next few weeks.
BREAKING: Effective today (8/16), folks living with HIV are now eligible to receive the Monkeypox vaccine in #HarrisCounty and #Houston. As always, prevention is our best line of defense against the virus. For more info, call the Monkeypox Hotline @ 832-927-0707. pic.twitter.com/EQxeVEsRkJ
— Lina Hidalgo (@LinaHidalgoTX) August 16, 2022Previously, those eligible for the vaccine included individuals who have been in close contact with someone infected with monkeypox and those diagnosed with monkeypox or who live within an area with a high number of confirmed cases who have had multiple sex partners in the last two weeks that have been. However, last week, the CDC expanded monkeypox vaccine eligibility to include children six months and older, HIV positive individuals or those taking PREP, and anyone diagnosed with chlamydia.
A child in Harris County under 2YO is a presumptive positive for Monkeypox. This is the first child in Texas. Yes, it is concerning, but we can prevail. The only way to stomp out the virus before it’s too late is vaccines, which is why I continue to advocate for more supply.
— Lina Hidalgo (@LinaHidalgoTX) August 16, 2022Last night we learned the federal gov will only allocate a fraction of the expected Monkeypox doses. We thought we’d be distributing 25K. Now we have just over 9K. We must stomp out the virus before we are trampled by it. The only way to do this is via vaccines. We need more.
— Lina Hidalgo (@LinaHidalgoTX) August 16, 2022Hidalgo said she's "disappointed" with a shortage of vaccines for Harris County, and argued that a strategy of prevention will not prevail unless more vaccines are made available. "It's concerning for us to see now, a child potentially with monkeypox," Hidalgo said. "I have a responsibility to advocate for this community. Obviously, the number of doses, the lack thereof, is not acceptable. If we want to try to get ahead of this virus, we need more doses so that we can expand eligibility further so that we can try and surround this before it surrounds us."
English (United States) ·