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I work in a pharmacy in Dubuque (the mumps hub of the US) where we've seen many people coming in who either have mumps or who possibly have the disease. The earlier post about 20% of people vaccinated getting the mumps is wrong. If 100 people get the mumps vaccine, 5 of those people could get the mumps simply because their immune systems didn't "take" the vaccine and produce antibodies. The other 95% are immune. It is true that people who have received 2 MMR's are testing positive for mumps because neither vaccination took.
Some other mumps information:
The reason mumps spread like wildfire is because a person is contagious 3 days prior to having symptoms to 4 days after onset. Since symptoms mimic a cold, people don't think about isolating themselves until after they've been diagnosed. Once a person has been diagnosed, a test is sent off to a lab for confirmation. The person is asked to isolate themselves from others for 5 days after diagnosis or until symptoms resolve, whichever is longer.
The strain of mumps in Iowa is *not* a rare strain. It's the same strain that people are vaccinated against and is the same strain that caused the outbreak in England a few years ago.
Since mumps are caused by a virus, there is no medication to get rid of it. Only medication to relieve symptoms (cough medicine for cough, Tylenol or ibuprofen for pain, etc.) is necessary.
More information on mumps can be found at www.idph.state.ia.us and clicking on mumps information.
As far as the football players who have mumps, I don't see it as much of a setback. Give them a week of rest and they should be good to go after that.
Some other mumps information:
The reason mumps spread like wildfire is because a person is contagious 3 days prior to having symptoms to 4 days after onset. Since symptoms mimic a cold, people don't think about isolating themselves until after they've been diagnosed. Once a person has been diagnosed, a test is sent off to a lab for confirmation. The person is asked to isolate themselves from others for 5 days after diagnosis or until symptoms resolve, whichever is longer.
The strain of mumps in Iowa is *not* a rare strain. It's the same strain that people are vaccinated against and is the same strain that caused the outbreak in England a few years ago.
Since mumps are caused by a virus, there is no medication to get rid of it. Only medication to relieve symptoms (cough medicine for cough, Tylenol or ibuprofen for pain, etc.) is necessary.
More information on mumps can be found at www.idph.state.ia.us and clicking on mumps information.
As far as the football players who have mumps, I don't see it as much of a setback. Give them a week of rest and they should be good to go after that.
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