Nurse fired after posts on measles

Texas Children’s cites violation of privacy policies

A nurse at Texas Children’s Hospital has been fired after posting information on social media about a rare measles case in the city, hospital officials said Tuesday.

The hospital took the action four days after learning of the nurse’s posts on a Facebook page called Proud Parents of Unvaccinated Children. Her posts concerned a boy, between 1 and 3 years old, currently receiving treatment at the hospital’s west campus in the Energy Corridor. He acquired measles overseas, the Houston health department has confirmed.

Texas Children’s would not provide information about where the boy’s family traveled, his precise age or his condition.

“We were made aware that one of our nurses posted protected health information regarding a patient on social media,” Texas Children’s said in a statement. “We take these matters very seriously as the privacy and well-being of our patients is always a top priority. After an internal investigation, this individual is no lon-

ger with the organization.”

A Texas Children’s spokesperson said the nurse was removed from patient care Friday after hospital officials saw the posts and launched an investigation. The nurse, a self-described antivaxxer, posted to share “how much worse (measles) was than what I expected” based on the case.

First case since 2013

The measles case is the first in Houston since 2013. The 2013 case involved a boy in the same age range who had not acquired the condition overseas.

Measles is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable infectious disease caused by a virus. It is particularly dangerous, capable of causing serious neurological disorders and death, in infants and the developing fetus in pregnant women.

“It can cause a devastating set of conditions in the very young,” said Dr. David Persse, health authority for the city of Houston. “That’s why it’s so important to protect those at extremes of age, for everyone to be vaccinated.”

The vaccine is given in two doses, the first at 12 to 15 months of age and the second at 4 through 6 years of age. The boy being treated at Texas Children’s hadn’t yet received his first dose before the family left the country, said Persse. Family members had been vaccinated.

The nurse, who on Facebook listed her job at Texas Children’s as a pediatric ICU/ER nurse, described the “rough” experience seeing a child with measles for the first time.

“I think it’s easy for us non-vaxxers to make assumptions, but most of us have never and will never see one of these diseases,” she said in screenshots of the posts obtained by the Chronicle. “By no means have I changed my vax stance, and I never will. But this poor kid was bad off and as a parent, I could see vaccinating out of fear.”

She said she’ll continue “along my little non-vax journey with no regrets, but I’ll have definitely have compassion to those who vehemently vaccinate.”

Texas Children’s said the dismissal was because the nurse posted protected health information, not because of her anti-vaccination views.

Over the past 10 years, Houston has averaged fewer than one reported case of measles per year, according to the health department. In Harris County overall, there were four cases, two each in 2013 and 2014.

Houston’s MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccination rate for children under 2 is 94.5 percent, better than the national rate of 91.1 percent and the Texas rate of 89.8 percent.

Other families notified

Texas Children’s reported the case to the Houston health department Monday. It is still being treated as a “suspected” case of measles, pending verification from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Texas Children’s Hospital has contacted families of any other children who may have come in contact with the boy, according to a statement from the hospital.

Measles is spread through direct contact with discharge through the nose and mouth as well as coughing and sneezing. Common symptoms include fever, a runny nose, a hacking cough, red eyes with severe sensitivity to light and a distinctive rash.

In one of the posts, the nurse seemed to realize that she had overshared.

“Sorry guys, I worked way too hard (and owe too much in student loans to jeopardize my license) so I deleted a lot of my responses,” she wrote. “I love my job, I love being in health care. I really want to keep info to a minimum and if/when this case makes news I’ll elaborate. Keep strong in your beliefs! We are all on this journey for a reason!”

The nurse’s Facebook page could not be found Tuesday.