Students, faculty and staff at the University of Colorado at Boulder need to be aware of the growing threat of mumps infection that has spread rapidly in some Midwestern states, including Iowa where state health officials have declared an epidemic.
Iowa has had 975 cases of mumps since the end of January 2006, compared to five cases annually in recent years, the biggest outbreak of mumps in the past 17 years. People in the 18- to 25-year age group have been particularly hard hit, causing concern on college campuses.
For CU-Boulder students, faculty and staff, some of whom travel frequently throughout the United States and internationally, attention to hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette is critical because mumps is highly contagious and is spread by saliva droplets, said Bob Cranny, director of the Wardenburg Health Center at CU-Boulder. Being aware of one's personal vaccination records also is key to protecting against the mumps, he said.
"One thing everyone should be doing right now is checking their own medical records to be sure they have had two vaccinations for measles, mumps and rubella (the MMR series) or have had mumps. Vaccination is the best prevention method," Cranny said.
Wardenburg officials estimate that all but 2,242 CU-Boulder students have had both vaccinations in the MMR series, based on records of exemptions that are filed with Wardenburg Health Center when students enter CU-Boulder as freshmen.
According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, one dose of mumps vaccine is approximately 80 percent effective and two doses is about 90 percent effective, though data on two-dose effectiveness is limited. Prevention in at-risk populations calls for isolating suspected cases and quickly identifying susceptible persons. Susceptible persons with no contact to a mumps case, and no history of mumps disease, should get vaccinated. Persons with contact and inadequate vaccination may need to be isolated.
CU-Boulder students, faculty and staff members who have not had both vaccinations but wish to be vaccinated "should contact their health care provider immediately," Cranny said. "Since the best prevention is to have had both vaccinations, this is the first thing people should do to protect against the possibility of contracting the mumps."
Wardenburg Health Center will cover the cost of the MMR vaccinations for susceptible students while supplies last, Cranny said. Some fees may apply. Faculty and staff members should contact their private health care providers, he said. A simple blood test can also be used to determine immunity, and people's health providers should be contacted to arrange for testing and payment.
Mumps is an acute viral infection that can cause severe muscle pain, anorexia, malaise, headaches, fever and swelling of the parotid or other salivary glands. Severe forms can cause complications including deafness, meningitis, encephalitis, spontaneous abortion, pancreatitis and other ailments. Complications are more common among adults than children.
Mumps is spread through direct contact via respiratory droplets or saliva. Incubation from the time of exposure to onset of symptoms ranges from 14 days to 25 days.
As with most viral infections, strict adherence to "hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette" is an effective way to prevent spread of the disease, Cranny said.
"We're recommending that students, as well as faculty and staff members, wash their hands frequently and use hand sanitizers. They also should carry tissues and avoid coughing or sneezing near other people or they should cough onto their sleeves to prevent droplets from spreading germs," he said.
Caution also should be followed to avoid sharing eating utensils, glasses and cups, computer keyboards, hand towels and other everyday items that could spread germs, Cranny said.
If symptoms occur, Wardenburg officials recommend that students check the Wardenburg Web site on mumps at , and contact their health care provider.
The mumps strain in the current U.S. outbreak is known as genotype G, the same genotype that has been circulating in the United Kingdom for the past two years. To date, Iowa's epidemic is the nation's only outbreak, defined as five or more cases in a concentrated area.