The largest outbreak of mumps in the US as been reported after a gap of more that two decades.
United States has recorded the largest outbreak of mumps over the past two decades. The current outbreak, the largest in this country since 1988 , is believed to have begun in late 2005 at a university in eastern Iowa. The federal officials reported yesterday that the outbreak is continuing to spread.
According to latest information from the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been more than 1,000 cases reported so far, most of them, about 815, have been in Iowa. The remaining cases have been reported in seven other states -- Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.Dr. Julie Gerberding, CDC director, said at a news conference Wednesday, that right now the condition is very unstable, and that they are not yet able to reliably predict where this will lead. She explained that the disease has been reported largely among people in their late teens and early 20s. Stating that this is the largest outbreak of mumps that seen in the country in more than 20 years, Dr. Julie Gerberding, said that there have been more than 1,000 cases reported from more than eight states. She also said that there are ongoing investigations in seven more states.
So far, she stated that 20 people have been hospitalised with mumps. Stating that the speculation of the outbreak having its roots from England, where an outbreak of more than 100,000 cases of mumps has been reported, is possible, but they are yet to obtain any proof at this time, she said.
Dr Gerberding noted that, as is the nature of mumps and the continued progression of the outbreak, officials are expecting more cases in more states. There has been a vaccine for mumps since 1967 that has largely eliminated frequent outbreaks of the disease, she said. She explained that though mumps is not usually a serious disease, but in some people it can have serious complications. Dr Gerberding said Up to 10% of people with mumps develop encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) and others can develop an inflammation of the testes, which can lead to infertility. Mumps has also been associated with spontaneous abortion and deafness.
According to the CDC the mumps virus can cause a acute viral illness the disease typically causes fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, and loss of appetite, followed by swelling of the salivary glands. Dr Gerberding said that the best protection against mumps is the vaccine. Explaining that there is confusion going around right now as to whether or not this outbreak is related to some problem with the vaccine, she emphasized that as of now they have absolutely no information that there is any problem with the vaccine.
Gerberding explained that, despite the availability of the vaccine, people in the age group who are getting sick may not have had the recommended two doses of the vaccine thereby not completely vaccinated, leaving them susceptible to the disease. Dr Gerberding said that it is a good vaccine though not perfect and about 10% of people who get both doses of the vaccine may be still remain susceptible to mumps.
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She recommended that people should get vaccinated especially if they haven't had the two doses. She said that children who are in the school or teens who are in college, and especially for health-care workers should make sure that they had received their second dose or do so immediately.
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Dr Gerberding said the CDC is studying the effectiveness of the vaccine. But she said at this point it appears that the number of cases among vaccinated people is what would be expected from a vaccine that is believed to not work in about 10 percent of the people who receive two doses.
