The cost of measles: A CDC review

A measles outbreak investigation can be a very expensive task as was demonstrated in the Minnesota outbreak earlier this year when some 79 mostly children were infected costing the health department $2.3 million during the five-month outbreak. Recently in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), an analysis was published looking at the Public Health Economic Burden Associated with Two Single Measles Case Investigations. I was joined by Grace Marx, MD to discuss the MMWR report. Dr Marx is with the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) and is the lead author of the paper.