Sauniere
04-21-2006, 12:39 AM
Mumps, a disease for my generation now returning...
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/14385635.htm
-snip-
Federal health authorities said Wednesday that they are rushing 25,000 doses of mumps vaccine to the Midwest to control the largest mumps outbreak in 20 years.
Since the first cases were detected in Iowa in December, mumps has infected 1,165 people in at least eight Midwestern states, said Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
``We're not going to be surprised to see more cases in more states,'' she said at a news conference in Atlanta.
Officials still are collecting data from the other states, but many of the people in Iowa who have contracted mumps were 17 to 24 years old.
The relative youth of those infected could explain why there have been no deaths so far, Gerberding said. Still, 20 people have been hospitalized for more serious conditions that developed from their mumps infections, including meningitis.
Gerberding said a program has begun in the affected areas to vaccinate vulnerable populations, particularly college-age students and health care workers.
Mumps is a virus that can be spread by close contact through mucus or coughs and sneezes.
The disease generally causes fever, headaches and tiredness, with a special tendency to puff up the saliva glands. Most people get over mumps in about 10 days. About 20 percent of people who catch mumps can have no symptoms.
Mumps usually affects about 265 people a year in the United States.
Since a vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella became available in 1967, nearly everyone has gotten the shot...
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/14385635.htm
-snip-
Federal health authorities said Wednesday that they are rushing 25,000 doses of mumps vaccine to the Midwest to control the largest mumps outbreak in 20 years.
Since the first cases were detected in Iowa in December, mumps has infected 1,165 people in at least eight Midwestern states, said Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
``We're not going to be surprised to see more cases in more states,'' she said at a news conference in Atlanta.
Officials still are collecting data from the other states, but many of the people in Iowa who have contracted mumps were 17 to 24 years old.
The relative youth of those infected could explain why there have been no deaths so far, Gerberding said. Still, 20 people have been hospitalized for more serious conditions that developed from their mumps infections, including meningitis.
Gerberding said a program has begun in the affected areas to vaccinate vulnerable populations, particularly college-age students and health care workers.
Mumps is a virus that can be spread by close contact through mucus or coughs and sneezes.
The disease generally causes fever, headaches and tiredness, with a special tendency to puff up the saliva glands. Most people get over mumps in about 10 days. About 20 percent of people who catch mumps can have no symptoms.
Mumps usually affects about 265 people a year in the United States.
Since a vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella became available in 1967, nearly everyone has gotten the shot...