Mon County measles case great example of why vaccinations are so important

A single positive measles case in Monongalia County cost the local health department more than $15,000. (Getty Images)

Last week, West Virginia Watch’s Lori Kersey reported that the Monongalia County Health Department spent over $15,000 in response to one case of measles.

One case.

The patient — who had only received one dose of the measles vaccine — potentially exposed approximately 160 people to the measles virus before they started to show symptoms. Fifteen staff members of the health department spent a collective 250 hours doing contact tracing, meaning they had to contact people who were possibly exposed daily for two weeks to make sure they weren’t showing symptoms.

Dr. Lee Smith, health officer for the Monongalia County health department, said that money isn’t in the yearly budget.

“That’s just doing public health work.”

Smith described it as an “arduous and a difficult task.”

“I’m telling you that we spent over $15,000, 250 man hours, 15 people on a single case,” he said. “I can’t imagine, I would have lost my mind had we [had] a third, fourth [measles case].”

Smith is lucky. West Virginia has some of the strictest vaccination requirements in the United States. It’s one of only five states that doesn’t allow religious or philosophical exemptions — only medical exemptions are permitted. Medical experts often credit those requirements for the state’s great immunization rates.

All West Virginia health departments participate in the Vaccines for Children program, which provides free vaccines for parents and guardians who are unable to afford them.

That didn’t stop the West Virginia Legislature from trying to loosen those restrictions earlier this year.

During this past session, both chambers passed House Bill 5105, which would have allowed the state’s private and parochial schools to establish their own vaccination policies. Gov. Jim Justice vetoed that bill.

What would have happened if someone in another county tested positive for measles? Monongalia County’s health department has 84 employees — one of the largest in the state. They were able to move 15 staff members to contact tracing. What would have happened to a smaller county that doesn’t even have 15 employees? How would they have been able to call patients daily for two weeks to try to stop the spread?

Measles is highly contagious. The virus can spread for up to two hours through the air after an infected person leaves an area, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The disease can lead to hospitalization (which will be expensive), pneumonia (also expensive to treat), swelling of the brain ($$$) and even death — a very high price to pay for not getting two doses of a vaccine.

The World Health Organization estimated that measles killed more than 130,000 people in 2022 — most of which were children.

“There is no scenario where getting the actual measles infection is somehow better for your child than getting the vaccine,” said Priya Soni, MD, a pediatric infectious disease specialist with Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s.

If West Virginia didn’t have such a high vaccination rate, this could have been a disaster. Look around us — in 2024 alone , there’s been between one to nine confirmed cases in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Florida has had 12 cases, and Illinois has had an outbreak with 67 cases . The U.S. has had 11 outbreaks (meaning three or more cases) this year compared to four in 2023.

In 2000, measles was considered to be completely eliminated in the United States. New cases were only found when someone contracted the disease when traveling abroad and returned to the U.S., according to the CDC.

Now because of vaccine hesitancy, outbreaks are becoming more common. And some of the most vulnerable  — children under 5 — must depend on their parents or guardians to get them both doses of the vaccine.

How much money would have been spent if another person had been infected? And if that person infected another person? And it kept going and going? How many thousands would be spent trying to stop the spread of the disease? What programs would have lost funding because money had to be spent on measles, a disease that was once completely eliminated?

The case in Morgantown was just a tiny taste of what could happen here if lawmakers loosen vaccine requirements. While legislators say they want health freedom, their actions could have real consequences, including potentially costing some West Virginians their lives.

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