3 mumps cases are confirmed in UA outbreak

Shots urged for people at risk

FAYETTEVILLE -- Three cases of mumps have been confirmed at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, with another case suspected, the state Health Department announced Wednesday.

Meg Mirivel, the department's spokesman, said in an email that the department learned of the first case early this month.

While mumps typically is a mild disease in children, the illness in adults can be more serious. Complications can lead to deafness and involve inflammation of the brain, according to the Health Department.

Students and university staff members who may have been in close contact with the confirmed cases are being encouraged to seek vaccinations, as are those who have received vaccine exemptions.

Under state law, children generally are required to be vaccinated against mumps before attending school, but exemptions are allowed for medical, religious or philosophical reasons.

The measles, mumps, rubella or MMR, vaccine is available at at the campus's Pat Walker Health Center and also at the county health unit in Fayetteville.

Zac Brown, a UA spokesman, said Wednesday that the three confirmed cases involved students but that all had recovered.

"The fourth (and suspected) case presented to us on Monday, so we are still waiting to get those test results back," Brown said in an email.

Brown said the first case involved a student who showed symptoms near the end of January, and that the students confirmed to have mumps were removed from classes while in the contagious period.

At least two lived on campus and were isolated as is standard protocol, he said.

Brown said the university has contacted people who potentially were directly exposed to the mumps-stricken students .

Mumps symptoms include painful and swollen salivary glands resulting in puffy cheeks and jaws, the Health Department said. Symptoms usually are gone within a few weeks.

There is no treatment for the viral illness, which can be spread through direct contact with saliva or respiratory droplets from coughing or sneezing.

The state had an outbreak of mumps in 2016 and 2017, with nearly 3,000 cases, according to the Health Department.

According to national data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this year, as of Jan. 31, mumps infections in 58 people have been reported in 18 states, including three states bordering Arkansas: Missouri, Louisiana and Texas. Mumps outbreaks, however, are not required to be reported.

Outbreaks in 2016 and 2017 led to more than 6,000 cases nationally each of those years, with the CDC noting that the cases mostly affected young adults. The Health Department described the nearly 3,000 Arkansas cases "from August 2016 to August 2017" as "the second-largest mumps outbreak in the United States in the last 30 years."

Metro on 02/21/2019

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