After 54 cases of mumps were reported during fall 2006 and winter 2007, University administrators were quick to warn students about two possible cases of the disease reported this week.
Two unacquainted students came to Student Health Monday and were subsequently isolated because of mumps-related symptoms after a preliminary diagnosis was made based on their symptoms and physical exams, Student Health Executive Director James Turner said. More concrete testing will take weeks to determine the final diagnosis.
Turner noted that 13,300 students have been vaccinated, leaving only 12 students who have not turned in medical records or have not been vaccinated and 112 students who have not been vaccinated because of medical waivers.
Despite the widespread immunizations, which are 90 to 95 percent effective, most victims of the disease will have been immunized and are unlikely to suffer serious complications, Turner said. The disease's threat materializes in its speedy transmission.
"Coughing, sneezing, kissing, intimate contact [and] sharing a bed are usually the way it spreads," Turner said, explaining that respiratory droplets and saliva transmit the illness.
Patricia Lampkin, vice president for student affairs stressed the importance of exercising good hygiene such as hand-washing, not sharing drinking glasses and eating utensils and covering one's mouth when coughing or sneezing.
Symptoms of mumps include swelling of the salivary glands under the jaw bone or at the angle of the jaw, fever, sore throat and body aches.
Turner said colleges are especially vulnerable to mumps outbreaks because constant interaction among students in living environments and classes allows easy transmission of any germs students brought from trips home.
Turner attributes last year's large outbreak to a massive outbreak in the Midwest, noting that traveling students and visitors to Grounds contribute to the likelihood of an outbreak.
In an effort to avoid an outbreak, students were alerted about the two cases through an e-mail, and hospitals and local physicians were notified about the possible presence of mumps in the area.
Like last year, there will be special accommodations arranged for students with mumps.
"We have an apartment where we will place students if we have to isolate them," Lampkin said.
Turner said he hopes the early warning will help control the problem, but said he could not predict the probability of an outbreak.
"Perhaps this will not be as bad as what it was last year," Turner said.
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