Uclan, University of Exeter hit by mumps outbreaks
Two British universities have been struck by increases in cases of the viral disease, mumps, and school officials are urging students to ensure their vaccinations are up to date.
Public domain photo/ Fetler at the wikipedia project
According to a This is Corwall.com report, students at the University of Exeter have been told to stay away from lectures after contracting mumps.
Twenty-one students at the Streatham Campus have been diagnosed, with 16 in the past week.
In the letter to all students, Dr H.S. Arshi said they were dealing with a “notable” number of mumps cases at the Streatham campus.
Mike Wade from the Health Protection Agency told the BBC: “This cohort of students probably didn’t get the two doses of MMR which was released in 1996 and unfortunately the single dose vaccine can only confer protection of between 60% and 90%.
“That’s why we’re re-iterating that if students aren’t clear about their vaccination history to go back and have a booster.”
In the city of Preston, students at the University of Central Lancashire (Uclan) are being urged to get vaccinated against mumps after the number of suspected cases there rose to 27.
The BBC reports a spokesman for Uclan said: “To date we have seven confirmed cases of students who have been diagnosed with mumps – this is from the 27 suspected cases which have been reported.
47 Uclan students were affected by a mumps outbreak last May.
Mumps is an acute viral disease that is characterized by fever and swelling and tenderness in one or more of the salivary glands. Maximum infectiousness occurs between two days prior to onset of illness to four days afterwards.
Complications to mumps may include orchitis (which has been reported to be a risk factor for testicular cancer), encephalitis and spontaneous abortion. Sterility in males is a rare possible outcome.
