We know the price of vaccines, but how about the price of not taking a vaccine? Turns out, there's a dollar figure for that, too. A recent study found that a measles outbreak in New Mexico in 2025 cost nearly $5.4 million to contain, with an average cost of over $53,000 per confirmed case.
Extrapolate that out the rest of the country and the outbreaks spreading in clusters and the price of foregoing measles vaccinations is well into the multi-millions.
The New Mexico outbreak, which began in an under-vaccinated community in Texas before spreading to New Mexico, resulted in extensive public health response efforts, medical expenses, and lost productivity.
The total cost included expenses for medical care, vaccination-related activities, and lost productivity due to patients, caregivers, and exposed contacts missing work.
But New Mexico and Texas aren't alone. The United States has had 2,370 measles cases so far this year, and if you use the cost from the study that's $126 million in costs for treating active measles cases that could've been prevented with a vaccine.
Check the measles tracker HERE for numbers across the country, where cases are clustered, and how your community is faring.
On the below public health chart, know that "blue dots represent locally acquired cases while red dots represent imported cases from out of jurisdiction (out of state or out of country) travel. As indicated by the relative size of the blue dots, most of the reported cases are due to local transmission, with relatively few cases being imported. Of the imported cases, the vast majority occur in travelers returning from other countries with ongoing measles outbreaks."
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/ivac/resources/us-measles-tracker
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/ivac/resources/us-measles-tracker
"Severe measles can lead to hospitalization and even death. The best way to prevent contracting measles is through measles vaccination. Having a high percentage of people fully vaccinated against measles is the best way to prevent outbreaks, and is also the best way to protect people who cannot get measles vaccines, such as babies or people with cancer.The study highlights the significant financial toll of measles outbreaks and underscores the importance of vaccination in preventing such costly public health crises," per Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
