内容摘要：It’s rare for vaccinated people to get measles, but officials say that may account for up to 10% of cases here, though they’re milder.

It’s rare for vaccinated people to get measles, but officials say that may account for up to 10% of cases here, though they’re milder.

provided visual support.The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

This story has been corrected to show that Brownsville, Tennessee, is in the western part of the state, and that there is a hospital in Rocky Mount, Virginia, but it does not have a labor and delivery unit.WASHINGTON (AP) — Aspopped up across the U.S. this winter, pediatricians waited for the nation’s public health agency to send a routine, but important, letter that outlines how they could help stop the spread of the illness.

It wasn’t until last week — after the number of cases grew to more than 700, and a second young child in Texas had died from a measles infection — that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finally issued its correspondence.The delay of that letter may seem minor. But it is one in a string of missteps that more than a dozen doctors, nurses and public health officials interviewed by The Associated Press identified in the Trump administration’s response to the outbreak.

efforts to contain an epidemic in a tight-knit, religious community in West Texas have run counter to established public health strategies deployed to end past epidemics.

“What we are lacking now is one, clear strong voice — from the federal to the state to the local — saying that the vaccine is the only thing that will prevent measles,” said Patricia Stinchfield, a nurse practitioner and infectious disease expert who helped stop a 2017 measles outbreak in Minnesota’s Somali community.Blacksburg, Virginia-based Revivicor provided Looney’s new kidney from a pig with 10 gene alterations. Its parent company, United Therapeutics said Tuesday it plans to file an application with the FDA “very soon” to begin clinical trials with that type of kidney.

Looney was initially discharged on Dec. 6, wearing monitors to track her blood pressure, heart rate and other bodily functions and returning to the hospital for daily checkups before her medication readmission. Doctors scrutinize her bloodwork and other tests, comparing them to prior research in animals andin hopes of spotting an early warning if problems crop up.

“A lot of what we’re seeing, we’re seeing for the first time,” Montgomery said.Locke, who recently joined the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, visited last week to check her longtime patient’s progress. Looney hugged her, saying, “Thank you for not giving up on me.”