The first case of the mumps to appear at UW-Madison occurred Monday as a 20-year-old female undergraduate who lives off campus was daignosed, prompting local health services to warn students to take extra measures to avoid contracting the contagious disease.
Director of University Health Services Kathy Poi said a person who has contracted the mumps can be infectious three to five days before symptoms appear and acknowledged that the upcoming Mifflin Street Block Party poses a health risk because many students exchange saliva through activities such as beer pong and sharing of beer bongs.
[Sharing] certainly does increase the risk,\ she said, ""If I were a student, I don't think I'd be sharing glasses or things like that. That's just sort of a common sense way a student can protect themselves.""
According to Poi, any population where people are in close quarters is at risk, mainly because the disease is spread primarily through saliva.
An e-mail sent out by UHS to all UW-Madison faculty, staff and students stated the disease can take 12 to 25 days to develop in exposed individuals. Poi said that once a student is diagnosed, he or she must remain in isolation for nine days, which can be very disruptive to students' lives, especially around exam time.
According to Assistant Dean Ervin Cox, the dean's office is prepared to deal with students who miss class or finals due to the mumps on a case-by-case basis. He said if a student becomes sick during finals for whatever reason, the dean's office will work with that student to make arrangements with the appropriate faculty members.
While Poi said she is concerned more cases may develop, she believes most students on campus have been immunized, which will help prevent spread. However, those who have been immunized can still contract the disease.
""Although it is a very good vaccine, it is only 90-95 percent effective, so if you have 100 students and they've all been immunized, it's still likely that five of them did not actually develop immunity to the vaccine for various reasons,"" Poi said.
Mumps is characterized by swollen salivary glands, and symptoms are similar to a bad upper respiratory infection. Occasionally, men can experience inflammation of the testicles, which can lead to future complications, but overall, people do not become terribly ill, said Poi.
""If we can get through these next few weeks without a lot of cases and then these students disperse … it will help prevent a major outbreak,"" she said. ""At this point we only have one confirmed case. … The fact that we have gone this long without having any cases is actually pretty positive.""
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