How Much Did the Texas Measles Outbreak Cost to Stop?
Can you guess how much the Texas measles outbreak cost to contain last year?
How Much Did the Texas Measles Outbreak Cost to Stop?
You remember the Texas measles outbreak, don’t you?
The Texas measles outbreak that sickened at least 762 people, with only 21 known to be fully vaccinated…
The Texas measles outbreak that put 99 people in the hospital, including 12 ICU admissions, and led to the deaths of two unvaccinated children.
The Texas measles outbreak that took seven months to contain and spread to 37 Texas counties…
The Texas measles outbreak that also spread to New Mexico and Mexico, triggering an even larger measles outbreak that has led to the deaths of at least 33 people.
“Public health is decentralized in Texas, so we don’t have information on the cost to local health departments. The estimated cost for the Texas Department of State Health Services was $11,467,904.73.”
Texas Department of State Health Services
The Texas measles outbreak that cost at least $11.5 million to stop.
Of course, that doesn’t even include the direct medical charges to care for sick ($14,000 to $16,000) and exposed people, direct and indirect costs for quarantined families (up to $775 per child), and outbreak–response costs to schools and hospitals, etc.
The Texas measles outbreak that we will all end up paying for…
Thanks for the info and the refresher.
The inclusion of the map is useful...I once had an interesting debate with an antivaxer who claimed the cases in Gaines County were because of infected "Mexican illegals coming accross the border into Texas". I corrected him on the demography (...not Hispanic, not immigrants or illegals), and tried to convince him they hadn't come across the Mexican border. Turns out he was confusing Mexico with New Mexico, and the border was the dividing line between these two States.
It used to feel strange having to correct antivaxers in the US as to the laws and regulations about vaccines, and the US schedule etc, but I am now used to that, but it's still feels odd every time I have to correct them on basic things like the geography of their own country.
Are you going to talk about the South Carolina outbreak sometime? That would be enlightening.