Expansion of measles has cost Washington more than $ 1 million in less than 2 months

The rise of measles has cost more than $ 1 million this year in the state of Washington this year, state epidemiologists say.

The State Health Ministry spent approximately $ 614,000 on staff and supplies.

Clark County, the focus of the epidemic with just 63 cases, has spent another $ 500,000.

Employees say the number is expected to rise faster in the coming weeks as they struggle to vaccinate more children.

"This is the taxpayer's money for something that could have been completely preventative," said Dr Alan Melnick, Clark County's public health director, at the Seattle Times.

More than one in 10 health workers have moved to fight measles, the Times reported.

In Clark County, almost half of staff (50 out of 110) do the same.

Dr. Jacobson, an infectious disease specialist at Mayo Clinic, told DailyMail.com that these logistics issues are part of the measles epidemic, but he fears the public can not realize it.

"The disease is incredibly contagious. If someone is coughing in a room, microbes from that person remain for hours after, leaving people at risk, "said Dr Jacobson.

"One of the great expense of a measles event tries to locate all the people who may have been in that room.

"Not just measles has an impact on those who get sick, but also on the rest of the community that has to do the detective work, which is costly and time-consuming.

"This is another reason why vaccines are so important."

Dr Jacobson adds that research shows that the effects of measles can take years after the outbreak because the virus suppresses the immune system by increasing the rate of death from other causes.

"We have discovered that measles leaves your body immune to one or two years later," said Dr Jacobson.

"When we introduced the measles vaccine into areas of the world where children were not previously vaccinated, we not only saw a decrease in measles deaths, we also saw them with other diseases one or two years later.

"There has been a fall in mortality and morbidity from things like diarrhea and pneumonia and other things."

It is not yet clear how measles behaves to suppress the immune system, but Dr. Jacobson said he was not surprised by the findings.

"It is a violent and serious infection. In our country, one-third of patients taking measles end up in the hospital and can not remain hydrated, fed and have a greater risk of pneumonia. "

In an attempt to control the outbreak, Washington tabled a bill to ban "personal and philosophical" exceptions to vaccines.

It would be the fifth state in recent years – and it will leave only 16 states with personal exceptions to books.