Syracuse NY: Mumps alert

[Shiloh]

Source: http://news10now.com/content/all_ne...umps-reported-at-crouse-hospital/Default.aspx
Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Mumps reported at Crouse Hospital
Updated: 08/20/2008 06:48 PM
By: Web Staff

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Crouse Hospital reports one of its healthcare providers was exposed to the mumps. The employee works in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and has since recovered. However, in the last week, two additional healthcare workers showed evidence of the disease.

Mumps is a viral disease typically transmitted through saliva. Symptoms include fever, aches and loss of appetite.

All staff in the NICU are being tested and required to wear masks and gloves.

"I just want to reassure everybody that the obstetrical care and neonatal care at Crouse is safe. There's no risk, no significant risk, to any patients," said Dr. Ronald Stahl, Crouse Chief Medical Officer.

Infants in the NICU are being closely monitored for signs of the mumps, but the risk of the disease in babies is very low.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Syracuse NY: Mumps alert

Source: http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf?/base/news-15/1220950709158690.xml&coll=1

Tests confirm two cases of mumps on Crouse staff
Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Two cases of mumps among staff members of Crouse Hospital have been confirmed by lab tests, according to Dr. Cynthia Morrow, Onondaga County's health commissioner.

She said eight other suspected cases, four of them involving Crouse employees and four involving people outside the hospital, are under investigation.

The hospital took steps to limit exposure to mumps in its neonatal intensive care unit three weeks ago after three staff members came down with symptoms of the viral disease.

A Crouse doctor was exposed to mumps while in Ethiopia.

No patients have come down with the illness, said Bob Allen, a Crouse vice president.

Mumps "requires close monitoring, but it doesn't raise huge concerns from a public health standpoint," Morrow said.

Mumps is rare because most people are vaccinated against it. It is usually transmitted by droplets or direct contact with respiratory secretions or saliva. People who have mumps may experience fever, headaches, muscle aches, tiredness and loss of appetite followed by swollen salivary glands.