Re: Guam: 2010 Mumps cases
Source:
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/pacbeat/stories/201005/s2895358.htm
Guam warns mumps could spread to neighboring islands
Updated May 10, 2010 17:06:26
Health authorities in Guam are urging their neighbours to step up their vigilance against mumps. It follows reports of a cluster of suspected cases in the Federated States of Micronesia. About 200 cases have now been detected in Guam, making it one of the worst disease outbreaks to strike the territory in decades.
Presenter: Helene Hofman
Speakers: Annette Aguon, Supervisor of Guam Department of Public Health
* Listen:
*
Windows Media
AGUON: Well, we've had approximately over 200 cases reported to public health since we started receiving cases several months ago. The main population affected is in school-aged children, roughly nine to 14 years of age, even in individuals who did receive two doses of MMI vaccine. However, we have seen cases reported in all age ranges, from children as well as adults.
HOFMAN: Has the rate of detection changed in the last month? How many cases are you now picking up say per day or per week?
AGUON: Because we initiated active surveillance within the schools, our public school system, high school health councillors in most of the schools and so they are working with other partners and reporting on a daily basis, even for zero reporting, so we have actually been seeing yes an increase in cases being reported on a weekly basis, sometimes we're averaging about five to ten suspect cases that are being reported to us.
HOFMAN: And how serious are the cases of mumps that you're seeing?
AGUON: They have been pretty mild, it is more of missing school and missing work. The issue is we do have large families, so it is crowded settings at home and so we are seeing it where within families members and close household contact that it is spreading from one individual to another.
There have been two hospitalisations, however, one individual had an existing cormorbidity and the other individual for a neck cellulitis, but other than that, the majority of cases have just been pretty mild thankfully and nothing to serious, loss of appetite. It is difficult to swallow and pain tenderness in the neck or ear area.
HOFMAN: How long are you expecting the colleagues that you have gotten from the Centre of Disease Control and Prevention in the States, how long are you expecting them to stay in Guam?
AGUON: They have actually given us support for as long as we need. We have to have a team of five on, Guam when we're ready we have had two colleagues kind of rotated out so they can go back to their main duties and the CDC and both the immunisation services division as well as the division of bio-diseases who has been very supportive and provided us not only with colleagues on the ground here on Guam, but also with the technical advice and knowledge to help us. The reclassification is definitely helping us with our line listing of reports updating information so that we can send out to our upper management as well as to CDC. In Atlanta, Georgia, they are also supporting us getting additional MMR vaccines so that we can do these catch up campaigns, so we really appreciate their assistance and ongoing support.
HOFMAN: Is this the first time that you have had to deal with an outbreak on this scale?
AGUON: For a mumps outbreak, yes. We've had other outbreaks in the past, but nothing this large. We've had a measles outbreak in 2002 as well as in 1994, but nothing of this magnitude and so we are working with our partners, locally as well as with the federal government to help try and contain this as well as getting the awareness of proper hygiene, because besides vaccination being the best way to prevent further spread of mumps its also proper cough etiquette, personal hygiene, not sharing contaminated cups or spoons, soda bottles and cans of someone who may have the mumps and definitely isolating an individual who already has the symptoms of mumps or is set to separate them from other individuals who may not have the MMR vaccine or unable to receive the vaccine because of either age or because of other medical conditions.
