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Health Officials Try to Contain Mumps Outbreaks Before Students Head Home for Holidays

SUNY Geneseo
SUNY Geneseo

There are no new reports of confirmed or suspected mumps at SUNY Geneseo since an outbreak within the last several weeks.

There have been 12 confirmed and one suspected case of the virus on campus since November.

But there is concern about the possible spread of the illness as students are scheduled to return home on winter break next week.

Even though roughly 85 percent of the general population is immune to mumps, there are other individuals who are particularly vulnerable.

"There are infants who are not immunized yet who concern us,” said Dr. Steven Radi, SUNY Geneseo medical director. “There are people who are on immunosuppressive medications for a number of reasons in the community who may be more susceptible to infection and even more susceptible to a complication or a severe form of the mumps."

Mumps is usually a mild disease in children, but adults may experience more serious complications, including deafness and encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), inflammation of the testes, ovaries, and breasts, and spontaneous fetal death in pregnant women.

Dr. Radi said there are no mumps vaccination clinics currently planned at SUNY Geneseo because the outbreak is not considered large enough.

State and local health officials have scheduled immunization clinics at SUNY New Paltz this week, where there are 63 confirmed or probable cases of mumps.

State health officials say a third measles-mumps-rubella vaccination may be help raise immunity among students who have not yet been exposed to mumps.

There have been 147 confirmed or suspected cases of mumps reported statewide in 2016, compared with 24 in all of 2015.

Health officials aren’t sure why there are much larger outbreaks of the illness in some years, but there are several theories. One is the possibility that there are different strains of mumps that the current vaccinations don’t offer protection against.

"And then the question is, how many of the people who get infected have had waning immunity, for whatever reason, since the first MMR is given between 12 and 15 months of age, and the second before kindergarten age,” said Dr. Radi. “For some people, does that protection wane over time?"

The last day of classes before the winter break at SUNY Geneseo is Tuesday, December 20.

Beth Adams joined WXXI as host of Morning Edition in 2012 after a more than two-decade radio career. She was the longtime host of the WHAM Morning News in Rochester. Her career also took her from radio stations in Elmira, New York, to Miami, Florida.