Measles is spreading in the southwestern U.S., as an outbreak in Texas has now crossed the border into New Mexico.

The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) confirmed in an updated report Friday that there have been 90 measles cases identified since late January.

The New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) confirmed three cases just last week, bringing its total to eight.

EVERYTHING TO KNOW ABOUT MAHA

Texas DSHS reported that the majority of cases were mostly unvaccinated, school-aged children, which highlights the importance of vaccination.

The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is one of the most common childhood inoculations and has been a requirement for school attendance since its development in the 1970s.

To address parents’ concerns, Fox News medical contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier answered some frequently asked questions regarding the vaccine in a video for Fox News Digital. (See the video at the top of the article.)

People often ask why the three vaccines are combined, which Saphier said is simply for convenience.

“From a public health standpoint, if the goal is to vaccinate as many children as possible to reach that herd immunity and keep these infections at bay, again, parents are more likely to only bring their child to the pediatrician that one time,” the doctor said.

NEW MEXICO REPORTS TEXAS MEASLES OUTBREAK HAS NOW CROSSED ITS BORDER

“And with a child, isn’t it easier to give one injection as opposed to three separate injections?”

Saphier also addressed concerns about MMR vaccine side effects, including inflammatory reactions at the site of the injection, where the skin can become red and warm.

Children can also have low-grade fevers and feel irritable or lethargic, which is “likely to happen” even with each individual vaccine – not just when the vaccines are combined.

“The reality is there are always side effects when it comes to any sort of healthcare intervention,” she said in the video. “But with vaccines in particular, you can have more mild side effects, and there are some severe, more rare side effects that are well-documented.”

BILL GATES LIKELY HAD AUTISM AS A CHILD, HE REVEALS: ‘WASN’T WIDELY UNDERSTOOD’

The potential for a link between autism and vaccinations has been a deterrent for many parents when choosing to vaccinate their children, but Saphier said the “overwhelming majority” of “good research” shows no causal link.

One of the largest studies, conducted in Denmark, found a lower risk of autism in more than 650,000 vaccinated children, the doctor noted.

While the U.S. has a higher incidence of autism compared to other countries, specifically Europe, the doctor revealed that European nations have higher rates of MMR vaccine uptake.

“Isn’t it easier to give one injection as opposed to three separate injections?”

Advertisement

“The signs and symptoms [of autism] start to show around the time we’re giving all these vaccines, so it makes sense to kind of think they may be related,” she said. 

“And it made sense to do as much research as we can to make sure there isn’t a link.”

MAHA MOMS CALL FOR ‘RIGOROUS TRANSPARENCY’ INTO HEALTH CONCERNS

“But I think we need to be looking really hard at our environment, what we’re ingesting, the pollutants, the toxins, everything in big agriculture, big pharma, in our food industry and everything else.”

Saphier suggested that a link to autism may be found after diving into the “harmful chemicals” consumed by Americans that other nations do not consume.

The doctor also said that medical agencies — such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics — should be “less stringent” on vaccination schedules, leaving the decision to the parents.

“It should be a conversation between the doctor and the patient.”

“If parents don’t want to give these vaccines when their babies are so little, I think it’s OK to have that conversation and let them wait until their child’s a little bit older before they head off to kindergarten,” said Saphier, who is a mother of three boys.

For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health

“Because maybe at that time, you start to see signs of autism between about 1 to 3 years of age for the most part. So maybe let the parent get their child through that time, and if there aren’t signs of autism, then maybe they’ll feel better about … being able to vaccinate their children.”

“It should be a conversation between the doctor and the patient,” she said.

“Unfortunately, during the COVID pandemic, the CDC and a lot of healthcare professionals really took away this conversation.” 

“By putting the COVID vaccine and booster for children in the same basket as MMR and some of the other vaccines, when it comes to children, that was the biggest mistake they could have ever [made],” Saphier continued. 

“That has caused more vaccine hesitancy and concern.”

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER

Saphier expressed her hope that the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement will help identify safety signals in vaccines, which will “give parents the confidence they need to continue with the vaccine programs, because they really can save lives.”

Fox News Digital’s Khloe Quill contributed reporting.