Boston MA: Mumps outbreak at university

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Source: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/health/19198946/detail.html

Hub Health Officials Report University Mumps Outbreak
Students Had Been Traveling In Ireland

POSTED: 1:43 pm EDT April 16, 2009
UPDATED: 2:30 pm EDT April 16, 2009

BOSTON -- Boston health officials are investigating an outbreak of mumps at Northeastern University.

They said four students who recently returned from a trip to Ireland have been confirmed as having mumps. They are all being treated.

Authorities said there has been an outbreak of the disease in Ireland where the students had been traveling.

The Dublin City University newspaper said there were more than 800 cases of mumps reported at Irish colleges and universities this year alone.

Mumps is a respiratory virus that is spread through coughing or saliva. Some of the most common symptoms are fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, and loss of appetite, followed by swelling of salivary glands, according to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. The parotid salivary glands are most frequently affected.

 

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Re: Boston MA: Mumps outbreak at university

Source: http://www.boston.com/news/health/blog/2009/04/4_northeastern.html

Public Health
4 Northeastern students suspected to have mumps
Posted by Gideon Gil April 16, 2009 04:21 PM
By Patricia Wen, Globe Staff

Four Northeastern University students have suspected cases of the mumps, Boston public health officials announced this afternoon, and they urged any unvaccinated students and staff to get immunized against this once-common childhood illness.

Though laboratory results are not yet back to confirm these as mumps cases, Dr. Anita Barry, director of infectious diseases at the Boston Public Health Commission, said the four students -- two of whom just returned from Ireland where there was a recent mumps outbreak -- have symptoms that are consistent with mumps. Given the relative ease with which this illness can be spread, she said, "it's likelly we'll see more cases."

Mumps is caused by a virus that is spread through infected respiratory tract secretions, and people typicall catch it by being within three to six feet of an infected person who coughs or sneezes. However, it is difficult to tell whether someone is infectious or not.

Barry said people are generally considered to be infectious from three days before until five days after the onset of swelling of the salivary glands. She said most infected people often feel sick for a few days with low-grade fever and "look like chipmunks."

The incubation period for mumps is usually 16 to 18 days, meaning it takes that long for symptoms to appear after someone has been exposed to the virus. But as many as one in three people infected with the mumps virus show no symptoms at all.

Serious complications are rare with mumps, but it has been known in rare cases to cause hearing loss in children.

The mumps vaccine doesn't always protect against the illness. Barry said all four sick Northeastern students have medical records showing that they had the two recommended doses of mumps vaccine. Barry said roughly 10 or 20 percent of those who receive the mumps vaccine are still vulnerable to the illness.

 

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Re: Boston MA: Mumps outbreak at university

Source: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/health/19200239/detail.html

BOSTON -- Boston health officials are investigating a sickness originally thought to be mumps that hit four students at Northeastern University this week.

University officials said that they have determined the ailment is not mumps, but city health officers have not ruled out the disease as a possible cause of the sickness.

Officials had originally believed that the students, who recently returned from a trip abroad, had contracted mumps while staying in Ireland. Authorities said there has been an outbreak of the disease in Ireland where the students had been traveling.

The Dublin City University newspaper reported there were more than 800 cases of mumps reported at Irish colleges and universities this year alone.

Mumps is a respiratory virus that is spread through coughing or saliva. Some of the most common symptoms are fever, headache, muscle aches, fatigue and loss of appetite, followed by swelling of salivary glands, according to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. The parotid salivary glands are most frequently affected.

 

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Re: Boston MA: Mumps outbreak at university

Source: http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2009/04/18/9_at_northeastern_may_have_mumps/

9 at Northeastern may have mumps
By Stephen Smith
Globe Staff / April 18, 2009

The number of Northeastern students suspected of being sick with the mumps rose to nine last night, with one suffering symptoms sufficiently severe to require hospitalization, Boston public health authorities said.

The students bear the telltale signs of the viral illness, including facial swelling, fever, headaches, muscle pain, fatigue, and loss of appetite. The germs can spread via coughing, sneezing, or talking.

All nine students are undergraduates, and they range in age from 18 to 22, said university spokesman Mike Armini.

To contain the spread of the disease, which in rare cases can lead to brain inflammation and deafness, Northeastern and disease specialists from the Boston Public Health Commission have urged the ill students to avoid crowds and stay in their rooms. Some of the students live in on-campus dormitories while others reside off campus.

"All of their roommates, if they have roommates, are being tested," Armini said. "And if there's a need to provide an individual room for someone, that will be done."

In a letter, university administrators urged about 500 students to be especially vigilant for signs of the mumps because they shared classes with the undergraduates believed to be stricken with the disease, a once-common scourge of childhood now seen infrequently in the United States.

Northeastern authorities estimate that 99 percent of the student body is immunized, and shots are being offered to the handful who are not.

Stephen Smith can be reached at stsmith@globe.com.

 

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Re: Boston MA: Mumps outbreak at university

Source: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/health/19273943/detail.html

Health Officials Confirm Mumps In City
4 Confirmed Cases Of Mumps Reported In Boston

UPDATED: 4:49 pm EDT April 24, 2009

BOSTON -- Boston health officials are investigating four confirmed and another eight suspected cases of the mumps.

The four confirmed cases are all students at Northeastern University, Boston Public Health said. Seven of the eight probable cases are also Northeastern students, officials said.

Last week, city health officials urged unvaccinated students at Northeastern University to get immunized against mumps after several students showed signs of the illness.

Health officials said up to 20 percent of those who receive the vaccine are still vulnerable to the illness.