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Source: http://www.lethbridgeherald.com/article_10333.php
Mumps numbers swelling in south
By CAROLINE ZENTNER
Apr 2, 2008, 04:11
Chinook Health resumes mumps immunizations today, more than three months after the mass immunization campaign was halted by Alberta Health and Wellness last December.
The province stopped the campaign after six occurrences, none of them in Chinook Health, of what was suspected to be a severe allergic reaction.
After Alberta Health and Wellness stopped the campaign, Health Canada investigated and has since determined the vaccine is safe to use.
?They went to the ninth degree and at the end of the day all of the experts agreed the six cases were nothing to do with the vaccine,? said Dr. Vanessa Maclean, acting medical officer of health.
At the time the campaign was put on hold, the region was in the midst of an outbreak of mumps in college and university students. The outbreak started in October; the region had seven cases by the end of the month. A month later, the region had 25 confirmed cases and by Dec. 3 the number had grown to 62. The numbers levelled off for a couple of weeks as more people were immunized, but within two weeks of stopping the immunization clinics, the number of cases started climbing again. By Jan. 2, 100 cases were confirmed. The number has since grown to 283 but few cases are in the post-secondary student population.
?Eighty to 90 per cent of the disease is now community based,? Maclean said.
The number of mumps cases in the region is 650 times greater than the normal rate and the region has 100 more cases than all other Alberta Health regions combined. Why the outbreak started and took hold in Chinook Health could be anyone?s guess.
Mumps outbreaks occur all over the world, England and the Maritimes for example. Anyone who travelled to an area with an outbreak could have easily brought the virus here. It landed among college and university students, a population without immunity and where many live in close quarters and do plenty of socializing.
?It just came into a perfect setting. It was like the perfect storm,? Maclean said.
Mumps is highly contagious and side effects can include encephalitis (infection of the brain), meningitis (swelling of the covering of the brain), arthritis and deafness. One in three men with the disease gets painful, swollen testicles which can lead to infertility in rare cases.
Symptoms include a fever of up to 39.4 C, headache, swelling and pain in the parotid salivary glands which increases over one to three days.
People with symptoms, even mild ones, should stay away from school, work and other people for nine days. Most symptoms run their course in a week or two with no treatment.
Clinics will be held at the train station in Lethbridge today from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday and from 8:30 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. Friday.
Health units in Fort Macleod and Magrath will also have clinics today from 1 to 4 p.m. In Cardston, the clinic goes from 8:30 a.m. to noon today. The Pincher Creek health unit will offer mumps vaccinations Thursday from 1 to 4 p.m.
Clinics will be held Friday at health units in Taber, Milk River, Coaldale, Raymond, Vauxhall and Picture Butte. Clinic hours are from 1 to 4 p.m. with the exception of Milk River where the clinic goes from 1 until 3 p.m.
Information on further clinics can be obtained by calling HealthLink at 1-866-408-5465 or visiting the Chinook Health website at www.chr.ab.ca.
? Copyright by Lethbridge Herald.com
Mumps numbers swelling in south
By CAROLINE ZENTNER
Apr 2, 2008, 04:11
Chinook Health resumes mumps immunizations today, more than three months after the mass immunization campaign was halted by Alberta Health and Wellness last December.
The province stopped the campaign after six occurrences, none of them in Chinook Health, of what was suspected to be a severe allergic reaction.
After Alberta Health and Wellness stopped the campaign, Health Canada investigated and has since determined the vaccine is safe to use.
?They went to the ninth degree and at the end of the day all of the experts agreed the six cases were nothing to do with the vaccine,? said Dr. Vanessa Maclean, acting medical officer of health.
At the time the campaign was put on hold, the region was in the midst of an outbreak of mumps in college and university students. The outbreak started in October; the region had seven cases by the end of the month. A month later, the region had 25 confirmed cases and by Dec. 3 the number had grown to 62. The numbers levelled off for a couple of weeks as more people were immunized, but within two weeks of stopping the immunization clinics, the number of cases started climbing again. By Jan. 2, 100 cases were confirmed. The number has since grown to 283 but few cases are in the post-secondary student population.
?Eighty to 90 per cent of the disease is now community based,? Maclean said.
The number of mumps cases in the region is 650 times greater than the normal rate and the region has 100 more cases than all other Alberta Health regions combined. Why the outbreak started and took hold in Chinook Health could be anyone?s guess.
Mumps outbreaks occur all over the world, England and the Maritimes for example. Anyone who travelled to an area with an outbreak could have easily brought the virus here. It landed among college and university students, a population without immunity and where many live in close quarters and do plenty of socializing.
?It just came into a perfect setting. It was like the perfect storm,? Maclean said.
Mumps is highly contagious and side effects can include encephalitis (infection of the brain), meningitis (swelling of the covering of the brain), arthritis and deafness. One in three men with the disease gets painful, swollen testicles which can lead to infertility in rare cases.
Symptoms include a fever of up to 39.4 C, headache, swelling and pain in the parotid salivary glands which increases over one to three days.
People with symptoms, even mild ones, should stay away from school, work and other people for nine days. Most symptoms run their course in a week or two with no treatment.
Clinics will be held at the train station in Lethbridge today from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday and from 8:30 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. Friday.
Health units in Fort Macleod and Magrath will also have clinics today from 1 to 4 p.m. In Cardston, the clinic goes from 8:30 a.m. to noon today. The Pincher Creek health unit will offer mumps vaccinations Thursday from 1 to 4 p.m.
Clinics will be held Friday at health units in Taber, Milk River, Coaldale, Raymond, Vauxhall and Picture Butte. Clinic hours are from 1 to 4 p.m. with the exception of Milk River where the clinic goes from 1 until 3 p.m.
Information on further clinics can be obtained by calling HealthLink at 1-866-408-5465 or visiting the Chinook Health website at www.chr.ab.ca.
? Copyright by Lethbridge Herald.com