Ohio State University Reports Mumps Outbreak: Health Danger

Mumps is a viral infection that affects the parotid glands and is characterized by a high fever, headache, muscle aches, fatigue, and loss of appetite. The disease can lead to much more serious complications, which is why getting vaccinated remains important.

On March 17^, Ohio health officials reported that 23 cases of mumps were confirmed at Ohio State University. Eighteen students and one faculty member were among those infected and four people were hospitalized for at least one day, according to Yahoo! News. On Monday, health officials revealed more alarming numbers.

A total of 63 mumps cases were confirmed in Franklin County, Ohio, just outside the Ohio State University campus. Of those cases, 45 are linked to the university outbreak, which as prompted health officials to promote infection control measures and notify the communities to get vaccinated or check to see if they need to get re-vaccinated.

The mumps spreads just like the cold or the flu. It's important to wash your hands, cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze, and simply stay home if you're sick. For mumps, five days of isolation is required to ensure safety in terms of contagion, which presents a problem for those attending college. Missing five days of class can set back a student for weeks, so those who were infected most likely attended class when they possessed the preliminary mumps symptoms, which are similar to your average wintertime ailments.

However, those who receive the vaccine are not entirely safe. Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said that people who are vaccinated can still contract the disease in situations such as the Ohio State outbreak; close quarters with multiple people infected. The vaccine is recommended when a child is 12-15-months-old, in which they receive a combination of the measles-mumps-rubella varicella vaccines. One dose is 78% effective for preventing the diseases and two doses is 88% effective. The second dose is administered when the child is between 4-6 years of age.

This is yet another instance of the spread of a once thought to be eradicated disease. California and New York have recently witnessed measles outbreaks in the past few months, and Fordham University in the Bronx also experienced a small mumps outbreak. Hopefully these events have served as red flags for those who have yet to obtain their vaccinations.

To read more about the Ohio State University mumps outbreak, visit this CNN article.