England – University mumps vaccine outbreak advice

Posted By kgd on May 10, 2011 at 9:56am | notices

Students across north west England have been advised to check their vaccination records after outbreaks of mumps at 2 universities. The disease has affected 47 students at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) and 35 at the University of Manchester since February [2011].

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has advised students to ask their GPs [general practitioners] if they have had the full MMR [mumps, measles, and rubella] vaccine. It said some may have missed out on their 2nd protective dose of MMR.

Dr Sam Ghebrehewet of the HPA said: “Mumps is an ever-present risk in universities and further education colleges. It is an infectious disease that spreads easily amongst young adults who missed out on the protection of 2 doses of MMR vaccine when they were children. 2 doses of the MMR vaccine are necessary for full protection.”

Mumps is a viral illness marked by symptoms of swollen neck glands, fever, and headache. Its complications can result in meningitis and deafness.

Communicated by: Pro – Med

[Mumps outbreaks often occur in congregate settings, where prolonged, close contacts facilitate transmission. Mumps is spread by droplets of saliva or mucus from the mouth, nose, or throat of an infected person, usually when the person coughs, sneezes, or talks. Items used by an infected person, such as cups or soft drink cans, can also be contaminated with the virus, which may spread to others if those items are shared. Most mumps transmission likely occurs before the salivary glands begin to swell and within the 5 days after the swelling begins.

Therefore, mumps sufferers should be isolated for 5 days after their glands begin to swell. The level of immunity produced by a single dose of the MMR triple vaccine may not be fully protective (with regard to

mumps) and may decline with time. A 2nd dose of vaccine may be required to produce adequate protection in all circumstances, and in particular in the case of young adults who may have received only a single dose of vaccine previously.