Students At Risk From Mumps

Students are being warned as the levels of reported cases of mumps are on the rise throughout England and Wales with young adults at greater risk.

Nine hundred and ninety-eight laboratory confirmed cases of mumps in England and Wales have been reported in January and February 2009. This compares with 322, 274, and 1173 cases in the same periods of 2008, 2007, and 2006 respectively. The disease is thought to be on the increase as those who were born between 1981 and 1989 may not have received the MMR vaccine and those who did may have only received it once.

Dr Mary Ramsay, who monitors mumps cases at the Health Protection Agency said, "The increased occurrence of the disease is mainly among older teenagers and young adults in their early twenties, and mostly among those in further or higher education establishments. Some in this age group were too old to be routinely vaccinated with MMR when it was first introduced in 1988. And some others may only have received one dose of MMR”.

The fact that there is a large group of people who fall into the bracket of those who are at risk means that the Agency is expecting a large number of cases to continue over the next few years. Another contributing factor to the rise in mumps is that the group at risk are currently attending semi-closed institutions which allow the disease to pass more freely from one person to another.

Some students who have caught the disease feel that not enough is being done to raise awareness about the dangers of mumps. Elizabeth Fisher, a student at Sheffield Hallam University said “At first the doctor treated me for an infected saliva gland. It wasn’t until later that I was diagnosed with mumps, and by that time could have spread it to anyone. When I was eventually diagnosed with mumps I wasn’t told anything about how contagious it was or given any information at all”.

Health Protection Agency advice, along with the Department of Health, is that school leavers and other young adults who have not received MMR or only received one dose, should ensure that they take up the offer of MMR vaccination.

Michal Lodej, The Steel Bugle