A first-year student residing in the Fitzhugh dormitory has contracted a case of the mumps, a highly contagious viral illness, and Dr. James C. Turner, executive director of the Department of Student Health said it is likely other students could become infected.
"We think there is a good chance there are going to be more cases, we just don't know how many," Turner said, adding that he wouldn't be surprised if there were 50 to 100 cases, although he is hoping there will not be. Vaccination is the only way to prevent against contracting mumps.
Students who have had close contact with the infected student, first-year Engineering student Stephanie Paredes, have been notified by e-mail, according to Turner. The primary risk is to the people who live in the same suite in Fitzhugh as Paredes.
"If students have not received an e-mail from us, they can assume they have been appropriately vaccinated and are not at risk," Turner said.
Turner said Student Health will be offering vaccinations from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and tomorrow for students who have not been vaccinated against the mumps.
According to Dr. Lilian Peake, director of the Thomas Jefferson Health District, most people are vaccinated against the mumps before beginning elementary school.
The mumps is a viral illness which causes fever, headache and swollen salivary glands. Patients will experience puffiness around the ears, Peake said.
A severe case of the mumps can cause testicular or ovarian inflammation, Peake added. Mumps can also occasionally cause viral meningitis, which is unrelated to the type of meningitis which killed University student Jennifer Leigh Wells earlier this month.
Viral meningitis can cause pancreatitis or even death, but such cases are very rare according to Peake.
According to Turner, 98 percent of the student body has been documented as having the mumps vaccine.
Turner said there is a five percent chance of vaccinated individuals contracting mumps.
"If it occurs in vaccinated individuals, it tends to be less severe and less complicated," Turner added.
Paredes said she was vaccinated against mumps as a child.
Once a patient begins to show symptoms of mumps, he or she can spread the disease for up to nine days, Turner said in a press release.
Paredes is currently resting at home in Arlington and said she plans to return to the University next Monday.
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