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Mumps
Spreads in Colleges in Midwest |
Posted:
04.26.06
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The biggest outbreak of the mumps virus in more than 20 years
has affected Midwestern states, and the disease is still spreading.
Printer-friendly versions: PDF
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 Mumps
is a contagious but short-lived viral disease that most commonly
affects the salivary glands in the mouth. It's not usually life
threatening, but it can have serious complications in teens.
"We have mumps every year," Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) Director Julie Gerberding said in a press
conference last week. "We see cases from time to time. What
is unique here is that we have a cycle of transmission that has
resulted in a conspicuous outbreak and one that seems to be extending
further and further across communities at risk."
Less than 300 cases of mumps were reported in the United States
each year between 2001 and 2005, but in the past four months,
more than 1,500 people have been suspected or confirmed to have
the virus. And the number of diagnosed cases has doubled in the
past two weeks.
"We are not going to be surprised if there are more cases
in more states," Gerberding said.
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Tracking
the disease among students |
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Half of the people who have been infected in this outbreak are
17 to 25 years old, and about one third of the people infected
are students.
 The
majority of mumps cases are in Iowa, where health officials believe
the outbreak began in December 2005. The CDC, the federal organization
responsible for protecting the health of Americans, thinks the
disease first spread in Iowa colleges, then broke out of the state
when two infected Iowans traveled by plane about a month ago.
Mumps spreads like the common cold, through sneezes and coughs,
and from shared surfaces where mucus particles could be left behind
and picked up by another person -- a process called "fomite
transmission." This explains why the virus can spread so
quickly in situations where people are close together, such as
planes and classrooms.
Diseases like chicken pox, tuberculosis and mononucleosis also
can be spread in the classroom.
It could be two or three weeks between the time a person catches
the mumps virus and the time he starts showing symptoms, but once
infected, the virus usually lasts about one week.
 Mumps
rarely causes death -- no one has died in this outbreak -- but
it can have some serious consequences.
About one-tenth of people infected with mumps will develop meningitis,
an inflammation of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal
cord. But, more commonly, people will get fever or pain from swollen
glands. The most common symptom is the inflammation of the saliva
glands.
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Vaccinations
can suppress outbreaks |
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Mumps is untreatable, but the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination,
usually received as two shots during childhood, has an effectiveness
of about 90 percent, according to the CDC.
The CDC said many Iowa college students may not have received
their second doses of MMR, since Iowa didn't require a second
shot until the early '90s. All but four states require at least
one MMR vaccination before students are allowed to attend school.
Before the MMR vaccination began in 1967, mumps was hundreds
of times more common. More than 100,000 cases were usually reported
in the United States every year.
 In
other parts of the world, mumps is common. In the UK, thousands
get mumps every year and most of the people that get sick are
college-aged.
The CDC does not have proof that this outbreak is related to
a strain from the UK, but U.S. outbreaks have historically coincided
with outbreaks there.
Iowa doesn't want to take the chance that infected college students
will bring the mumps virus home once summer holidays begin. The
Iowa Department of Public Health has begun a large-scale immunization
of 18 to 22 year olds in college communities.
Even if people receive both doses of the MMR vaccine, health
agencies suggest some general health practices such as covering
one's mouth when coughing and sneezing, washing hands often, no
sharing of drinks and cigarettes, and staying home if feeling
sick.
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Compiled by Adnaan Wasey for NewsHour Extra
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