MUMPS INFORMATION
As
you know, a MUMPS epidemic hit Iowa in 2006.
You can find more information, and the below information, in printer-friendly versions on the IDPH site, which is where this information has been taken from.
IDPH News Release
For More Information: For Immediate Release
Kevin Teale – Communications Director 515-281-6692 April 20, 2006
kteale@idph.state.ia.us
Iowa Young Adults Urged to Get Mumps Vaccination
Campaign seeks to reduce mumps spread
With the highest number of Iowa mumps cases occurring in the young adult (18 through 22 years old) population, the Iowa Department of Public Health, and its local public health partners, have announced a statewide campaign to vaccinate those at high risk of mumps. Iowa has seen 975 cases of the illness this year.
Two doses of the mumps vaccine is the cornerstone of mumps prevention. Since some of the cases in Iowa have occurred in people who haven’t been vaccinated against mumps, or who have only received one dose, this campaign will focus on getting those groups the mumps vaccine. The focus is on the 35 counties that have college or university facilities, but will include non-students in the targeted age group as well. This campaign needs to be accomplished by the end of this month, before students return home for the summer. Parents can also help by encouraging their children in the targeted age group to get vaccinated.
Specific dates of clinics in individual counties will be announced by the local public health agencies involved.
Mumps is a viral infection of the salivary glands spread through coughing, sneezing and saliva. It can spread by sharing drinking glasses, kissing, sneezing and coughing. Symptoms including swelling of the glands close to the jaw, fever, headache and muscle ache.
For most, mumps is a mild to moderate disease. There is a risk of severe complications, so the mumps outbreak needs to be addressed. The mumps vaccine, part of the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) shot, is 90 to 95 percent effective in protecting against mumps, if the person receives two doses.
All Iowans must also help reduce the spread of mumps and other diseases by practicing good hygiene, such as covering their coughs and sneezes, washing their hands, and staying home when sick.
The Iowa Department of Public Health has been working with the Centers for Disease Control and our local public health partners for several weeks on strategies in dealing with the mumps cases.
More information about mumps is available on the Iowa Department of Public Health website,
Iowa Department of Public
Health
Center for Acute Disease Epidemiology
Examples Explaining Mumps Vaccine Effectiveness:
Or why are so many mumps cases occurring in vaccinated people?
There have been many questions about why people, who have been vaccinated, are
getting mumps. As you read through the examples that follow, keep these key
points in mind.
• The mumps vaccine (part of the MMR vaccine) is about 95% effective.
• This means out of every 100 people vaccinated, 95 will be protected. However,
the vaccine will not “take” in 5 people, and these people will remain
susceptible to the disease.
• By comparison, the measles vaccine (also part of the MMR vaccine) is about 98%
effective and the annual influenza vaccine is about 70-85% effective.
Example 1:
In a community of 100 people, 100% have been vaccinated. Everyone is exposed to
mumps. What happens?
• 95 people (95%) in the community are protected by the vaccine and do not get
mumps.
• 5 people (5%) in the community become ill with mumps because the vaccine did
not “take”.
• Of the 5 people who get mumps, all (100%) have been vaccinated.
Example 2:
In a community of 100, 98% have been vaccinated (a similar rate to what is being
seen today in Iowa’s K-12 schools and some colleges.) Thus 98 people are
vaccinated and 2 people are not. Everyone is exposed to mumps. What happens?
• 93 people (95% of the 98 who are vaccinated) in the community are protected by
the vaccine and do not get mumps.
• 5 people (5% of the 98 who are vaccinated) become ill with mumps because the
vaccine did not “take”.
• 2 people who have never been vaccinated get ill because they have no immunity
to the disease.
• Of the 7 (5 vaccinated +2 unvaccinated) people who get mumps, 71% (5/7) were
vaccinated. (This is similar to what is happening now in Iowa.)
Thus a large percent of the people with mumps have been vaccinated. This is
expected in a highly vaccinated population when dealing with a vaccine that is
95% effective and a contagious disease like mumps. This does not mean that the
vaccine is not working, in fact the mumps vaccine is working as expected.
4/4/06