Health officials are expressing growing concern over the recent outbreak of mumps in the Midwest and the possibility of its spread to the UW-Madison campus, as 17 Wisconsin cases have been confirmed in people ages 5 to 83 years old.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the current outbreak is the largest seen in 20 years. Iowa alone has reported more than 600 cases, while seven other Midwestern states have together confirmed more than 100. In 2004, there were only 258 cases in the United States , where vaccinations have eradicated the majority of infections.
We don't want people to panic,\ said Stephanie Marquis, spokesperson for the Wisconsin Department of Health. ""Obviously we're seeing more cases than we have and so we're very concerned about that, and what we're really trying to do now is help reduce any sort of spread of the virus.""
Marquis said no cases have been confirmed yet at UW-Madison, but that universities are generally more susceptible because of their large, condensed populations. UW-Milwaukee has already reported two student cases, and the outbreak itself is thought to have started at a university somewhere in Iowa.
""I think from the UW perspective, it's just a question of whether there is sufficient immunity on campus,"" said Patrick Remington, UW-Madison professor of population health sciences and director of the Wisconsin Public Health and Health Policy Institute. ""So that if a case did appear, is there a sufficient number of people who are susceptible to cause an outbreak to propagate?""
University Health Services epidemiologist Craig Roberts said UW-Madison is lucky in that the majority of students have had their two measles, mumps and rubella vaccinations, which effectively immunizes 90 to 95 percent of recipients. Since 1990, Wisconsin state law has required K-12 students to receive the two MMR vaccinations in order to graduate high school.
Roberts said as the virus spreads, cases will inevitably arise on campus.
""It's not a big deal yet, but it certainly could become that,"" Roberts said. ""What we're doing at this point is increasing our surveillance and getting the word out there about what's been going on.""
""We're actually sort of fortunate,"" he added. ""Everyone's essentially going to leave and disperse in three weeks, and that'll put an end to probably having a lot of cases here.""
Mumps is a viral infection that causes swelling of the salivary glands. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pain and swelling of the cheek and jaw. The virus may cause serious problems such as meningitis and deafness but is almost never fatal.
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