Mumps: Childhood Disease Makes Comeback on College Campuses
A Mumps comeback in the U.S. in 2006 was alarming in its severity, and the disease may now take several years to completely eradicate, according to federal public health experts. Interestingly, the viral outbreak occurred despite the routine administration of a second dose of a mumps vaccine throughout the early 1990s. These findings were reported in a recent edition of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Among other data presented in the article is the fact that 84% of people between 18 and 24 years of age who contracted Mumps during the outbreak had already been given the second recommended dose of MMR vaccine -- a dose that should have protected them from Mumps.
The recent outbreak of the virus resulted in no deaths, but thousands of cases of fever and swollen glands -- some severe enough to cause deafness, testicular inflammation and encephalitis. Eighty-five people were hospitalized with the disease, mostly people concentrated in mid-western states and on college campuses. Health experts warn that the impact could have been much larger.
Government health officials plan to have the disease eliminated again by 2010 -- a disease is considered "eliminated" if no home-grown cases develop during any consecutive 12 months. Permanent eradication of the disease will probably never occur, according to authors of the article, because 43% of the world's countries do not vaccinate against Mumps, making importation of the virus a constant threat. Most countries that do offer MMR vaccine to children to not administer 2 doses, or have not been doing so for as long as the U.S.
A double dose of the MMR vaccine is estimated to be 88 to 95% effective at preventing Mumps. Scientists believe that the 2006 outbreak was likely enabled by a variety of contributing factors, including waning immunity to the virus, high population density, contact rates on college campuses, and incomplete vaccine-induced immunity to the virus.
Previously on the DC Metro Area Medical Malpractice Law Blog, we have posted articles related to:
- A CDC update to the recommended adult immunization schedule
- News coverage of a Mumps outbreak in Washington, DC in 2006
- Mumps cases at the University of Virginia in 2006
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