Mumps outbreak concerns health officials (Reuters)

[Up2Late]

(So is this another lie they told us as children (that the Mumps and Small Pox shots lasted a lifetime)???)

Mumps outbreak concerns health officials

Thu Apr 13, 2006 10:53 PM ET

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Public health officials said on Thursday they were concerned about an outbreak of mumps in the Midwest and said some people may have been infected on airline flights. More than 600 people were reported sick in Iowa with the virus, once a common childhood illness but virtually eradicated with widespread use of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.

"The state of Iowa has been experiencing a large mumps outbreak that began in December 2005," the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement. The Iowa Department of Public Health said it was investigating 605 cases.

"This outbreak has spread across Iowa, and mumps activity, possibly linked to the Iowa outbreak, is under investigation in six neighboring states, including Illinois (four cases), Kansas (33 cases), Minnesota (one case), Missouri (four cases), Nebraska (43 cases), and Wisconsin (four cases)," the CDC said.

Mumps is an infection of the salivary glands caused by a virus. It causes unpleasant illness including fever, headache, and swelling of the glands around the jaw. It can sometimes cause more serious complications including meningitis, encephalitis, inflammation of the testicles or ovaries, inflammation of the pancreas and permanent deafness.

(more at link)

<http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=11848618&src=rss/domesticNews>

[thereismore]

1. the gov't says vaccines work, therefore, I should believe it? nt

[Golden Raisin]

2. I'm surprised fear-mongering BushCo

hasn't already made this into a nefarious plot by Osama or Democrats.

[file83]

3. "inflammation of the testicles" - OUCH!!! God please, don't let me get

the MUMPS!! :hide:

[0007]

9. One hung low can tell ya all about it!

[Javaman]

12. Damn, beat me to it!!

My! Testicles!! Are!!! Inflamed!!!!!!

[drm604]

57. Which can mean possible sterility if an adult male gets it. n/t

[Thor_MN]

68. If you get them when you are a kid, you don't get them when you are an

adult. If you get them when you are an adult, you don't get kids.

[hlthe2b]

4. No one "lied" to you or I or any one else... here is why

the tin foil hat is premature in this and other similar settings:

From the Iowa Dept of Health's April 13 update: http://www.idph.state.ia.us/adper/mumps.asp
Of 362 confirmed cases for which information has been obtained to date through intensive epidemiologic investigation, 3% had received no MMR vaccine, 10.2% had received only one (two are recommended/required for school entry), 64% had received 2 doses and generally should be protected*, and 23% vaccine status has not been able to be determined. So, as many as 36% may have been unvaccinated or under-vaccinated and we would not be surprised that they would be susceptible. In a state the size of Iowa, which is just under 3 million people, if those percentages held across the population in general--looking only at the 13.2%known not to be vaccinated fully (in a very BEST CASE SCENARIO, since it assumes the majority of the 23% whose status was unknown were actually fully vaccinated)--390,000 Iowans are susceptible, at a bare minimum, with a 100% effective MMR vaccine. No vaccine is totatlly effective, yet MMR has been shown to be 95% effective in previous studies. That means another 5% of Iowans who might have received full vaccination would be expected not to have fully developed immunity--another 150,000. In reality, there are probably many more who are unvaccinated (the unknowns reflected in this data) so, a quarter million (750,000) Iowans are probably susceptible to the virus. This would be expected.


This is why it is so important that nearly all people (children) be receive all vaccines recommended. If you have enough unvaccinated, it is not hard, even with a 95% effective vaccine to establish an outbreak, simply because you have so many susceptibles out there. It is believed this strain came from Britain where they have experienced a large outbreak, since the strain has been genetically typed as identical. Because of our successes in largely eliminating the worst causes of vaccine-preventable diseases, many believe that they don't need to vaccinate their own child. In reality, vaccination is a social contract. We do so to protect others, as much as we do to protect ourselves--since protection to the population at large is only really conferred when most are protect through immunization (so-called "herd" immunity).


Initial cases were among college students, who might be increasingly likely to have traveled to England, or been exposed to others from England attending various Iowa universities.

We may ultimately find that there has been enough subtle changes in mumps virus strains that the vaccine is now less than 95% protective. Right now, that does not seem to be the case. While I have probably provided more comment than the OP would have wanted, I just feel compelled to point out that in health, there are reasonable explanations for why things happen... Most people who work in health care provision, health research, and especially, PUBLIC HEALTH are really humanists--progressives, and care about doing the right thing. Just as with the global warming scientists, public health officials feel compelled to fight political pressure and report truth.


I'm one who sometimes dons the tin foil hat, so this isn't meant to be overly critical, OP. This
administration has certainly tried hard to exploit fear of pandemic and avian flu and has exploited fear of bioterrorism to a ridiculous degree. They clearly will try to manipulate science for their own agenda. In this case, though, I'd extend some trust. As one who knows both the individuals involved in Iowa and at CDC--as well as the methods used to investigate, I'd try hard to reassure those who might harbor suspicions.

[Up2Late]

5. Thanks for all that info, after the "Small Pox only last 5 years..." talk,

...it's hard to know what to believe anymore.

I had the Mumps as a small child (2 or 3 years old), does that protect me? This was in the mid-1960's.

[hlthe2b]

6. The way in which Bush* manipulated Public Health community

on smallpox was one of the most disturbing things I've seen. They (public health authorities at Federal, State, and Local Levels) questioned that the risk was real, but without access to national security data, how could they know for sure...

If you had mumps disease as a child that would be expected to confer very long term (essentially lifetime immunity), so I wouldn't be concerned.

Part of the problem here is that physicians did not consider mumps as the cause early on (because many don't see mumps very often and their suspicion is low among those they thought to be vaccinated). As a result, they may not always working up these cases to confirm mumps as the cause when they do consider it, leading to delays in public health being notified and taking action to control spread. If someone who is infected doesn't get confirmed with appropriate lab testing, they won't be reported as a "case" to public health authorities, nor counseled about their infectiousness to others until they've managed to spread. Now, I'm sure health providers' "Index of Suspicion" is now high and most providers know to consider mumps with these symptoms, even if they think the person is fully vaccinated. But, this alone may explain why the outbreak seem to "explode" so quickly.

[Ilsa]

10. I would hope that an active immunity lasts longer. Did you also get

an MMR booster around age 12 or so? That might help.

We had mumps in our household when I was eight, but I never got it. I always had my boosters, though, and the last one at age 32. I know my measles titer is still high. My mom grew up when children died from these diseases or were left crippled from polio. She always made sure we were vaxed and instilled a strong belief for seeking appropriate healthcare.

[NYC]

61. I think you are immune,

but I can't swear to that. I was reading the CDC website www.cdc.gov . They didn't say outright, but I got the impression that having the disease gives you immunity. I never had mumps, even though they were popular when I was a child.

[rodeodance]

7. It seems like the Public Health people are on top of ti.

[hayu_lol]

8. Used to be believed that smallpox vaccination was good for about 3...

years. In the service(50s/60s), we were given yearly vaccs. With the mumps 'outbreak,' remember that many fundies refuse to have their children vaccinated for anything. They end up being the people responsible for more suseptibility within a given community. They can get a religious exemption from vaccinations.

We have had endless battles with this group here in Oregon...over school entry innoculations. They become the carriers.

Before the mumps vaccine was available, most kids ended up having the mumps and we never heard of anyone getting the mumps again.

[Ilsa]

11. I wish some people could hear the story on NPR's Morning Edition

the other day. A southern author narrated her descent into polio, her family's fear of her ending up in an iron lung, and her hospitalization. She spent time with another young girl, an African American from the segregated neighborhood, who was in an iron lung. When the author was fitted with her braces and sent home, she asked about her friend and was told, "Oh she's gone home too." She said she later realized that "going home" was frequently a euphemism for children who died. SHe said she went back to school, participated in phys ed even though she was always last, but she gave herself a new nickname, "Lucky."

I sat in the parking lot crying when I heard this story, thinking of the fear parents had for their children possibly getting these devastating diseases, and how cavalier people can be about them now.

Yes, not everyone can be vaxed because of family history of poor or even deadly reactions, but most of us can be, and my kids are vaxed.

[MissB]

15. Isn't that why they bundled the rubella vaccination

with mumps and measles? So the fundies wouldn't be able to get around having the rubella vaccination?

[A Brand New World]

13. There is also a case in my county in Ohio - Champaign Co.

It is a 17 year old boy. Also a case in Darke Co., which is a couple counties away (West Central Ohio). Not real sure of all the details yet, whether they had received vaccines or not.

[Supersedeas]

17. not good that

[MissB]

14. Chipmunk cheeks!

My now 8 year old woke up with a chipmunk cheek a few months ago. Took him to see his ped - she was quite confused as to what it could be, as he had all of his MMR shots on time. Looked like classic mumps (which she's never actually seen) but decided it was just another virus that happened to attack the gland in the cheek since he had his vaccinations.

Now I wonder.

[Up2Late]

16. I think they can test for immunity to these illnesses, or at least they...

...should be able to test for it. You might want to check because, as the reply above said, for some, the vaccine "doesn't take."

I was shocked a few months ago when they said on NPR that doctors in Africa were unable to get enough T.B. tests!

I don't think they are using the simple T.B. skin tests we have here in the U.S.? I don't understand that. :shrug:

[judaspriestess]

18. damn Illegals

:sarcasm:

[gglor]

59. thats why bush has not said anthing

[Moderator]

19. kick

[WhiteTara]

20. Mumps outbreak now in 8 states - Update

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/conditions/04/14/mumps.outbreak/

Interesting to see how quickly it can spread. Yet another reason to quit flying!

(CNN) -- Federal health officials said Friday they are looking into whether air travel is spreading mumps through the Midwest.

Iowa has seen an epidemic of more than 600 suspected cases since December, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman. Other states reporting cases are Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Wisconsin. The agency has not yet released the name of the eighth Midwestern state.

Most of the Iowa mumps cases are on college campuses, where the typical close living quarters make an ideal breeding ground for the virus. (Watch as officials try to figure out how many people may have been exposed -- 1:45)

The CDC has initiated a multistate investigation, involving state health departments, to notify passengers who were potentially exposed to two mumps-infected travelers who took nine flights on two air carriers. The agency has also been using a new computer program to track air travelers who may be virus carriers.
more

[Kutjara]

21. Watch the Repugs try...

...to blame the outbreaks on college campuses as evidence of the Lord's wrath against promiscuous students.

[marmar]

22. Pat Robertson probably already has...

:evilfrown:

[DoYouEverWonder]

23. Are people who had been vacinated for MMR

getting the mumps?

[silverweb]

24. That's what I'm wondering.

I thought all kids were still required to get the full MMR series. What gives?

[Triana]

25. From what I understand, yes...

... people who've been vaccinated are getting it anyway.

[Kutjara]

26. I don't know for sure, but...

...I believe so. I've seen a few articles questioning whether this means that MMR doesn't give lifelong protection as advertised. Given that some form of mumps shot has been pretty much mandatory since the 1960's, it's likely that many of these 18-22 year old college students who are getting the mumps have been vaccinated.

[Warpy]

30. Yes, college kids

Either they didn't need the booster to get into college, or this is a strain that isn't covered by the vaccine.

[DawgHouse]

33. some who are getting the mumps only had one immunization.

In 1989 - 1991, the CDC began recommending two doses.

[MnFats]

34. there is now speculation that mumps vaccine does not..

...last into adulthood, precisely because of this epidemic. this from an NPR story yesterday.
...I'm old enough to have HAD mumps as a kid....and believe me, it sucks.
NPR story quoted docs -- sorry, I was in my car and couldn't take notes... that said a booster shot may be recommended...

[jwirr]

42. I understand it is even worse when you are older and more

dangerous.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

50. Mumps permanently deafened me in one ear

I was six months old when I contracted mumps. I think younger patients may be at higher risk for deafness. In older patients the results can be serious, but it's not as bad as having chicken pox as an adult, which is a pretty dangerous problem.

[gizmo1979]

36. If you got the two shots

it seems you are ok,but the older shots seem to be failing at a 5% rate.

[Hobarticus]

71. Now our local pro-life loonies are claiming that MMR

is made from aborted fetuses. Any truth to that?

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

27. Do all those universities allow gays in?

Just wondering.
Just wondering.
:sarcasm:

[Kutjara]

28. Oh, the irony.

My wife, who is British, is currently being processed for immigration to the US and, as part of the procedure, has to prove that she's had the MMR jab. She can't, and so has to have the shot again. She was very pissed off about this until last week. Now she see it as a very useful way of protecting herself against the outbreak in the US.

[Wapsie B]

29. The Clenis strikes again!

:sarcasm:

[sojourner]

31. it's a plague on the red states in holy retribution for their ungodly

rejection of christian love and tolerance. sorry...no disrespect for real xtians meant. just couldn't resist. :evilgrin:

[CountAllVotes]

32. it is Good Friday you know

<eom> :evilgrin:

[gizmo1979]

37. It's in WI we are a blue state.

[jwirr]

43. And in blue Minnesota.

[sojourner]

55. (sorry my bad -- I see north-central and mid-west and read "red"...

-- overgeneralization on my part.)

[gumby]

35. Iowa?

This is a stereotype, but Iowa has been a hotbed of anti-government sentiment. One of their issues is that vaccinations are a government plot that is not safe.

I'm not saying their vociferous arguments are incorrect. However, if a State that has an undercurrent against vaccinations is now the subject of an 'outbreak,' it makes me wonder?????

[gizmo1979]

38. I had the Mumps

33 years ago and I got it on a trip to IOWA!I think they have mumpy people in that state.

[Jazz2006]

39. I had only one mump....

but it was long before I ever visited Iowa :)

[gizmo1979]

40. Do you mean on one side.

because that is the way I had the mumps.Or did something go over my head?

[Jazz2006]

41. No, it wasn't over your head at all....

it was under your chin :)

And yes, just on one side.

(The singular mump was just my play on words.)

[NYC]

47. I think, 50 yrs. ago, everyone got the mumps, except me.

It was one of those childhood diseases that everyone seemed to get at around age 5, just like measles, chicken pox, etc.

As far as I know, everyone got it, but I didn't. I've always thought that meant I could still get it. I think the others became immune.

I'm going to read the CDC website now. Maybe people who've had it do not develop an immunity. Anyway, there was no vaccine back then. None for chicken pox, either.

[phylny]

53. I got the mumps about 40 years ago, and so did my brother.

It was DAMNED painful. I had the chicken pox, too (as my girls did), but not the measles or rubella. My older brother had measles, though. People just don't remember how many illnesses have been prevented by vaccines.

Useless anecdote: At the time, one of our pediatricians had a very large jaw, that stuck out on both sides. We used to laugh that he had "everlasting mumps."

But, I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

[NYC]

58. I hadn't known about all the vaccines they give now.

I was surprised to find out recently that there was a vaccine for chicken pox. Now, I find they have one for mumps.

From reading the CDC site, it wasn't entirely clear, but I get the impression that if you had mumps as a child, you are now immune.

When I was 5, I missed mumps, tonsil removal, and appendix removal. So, I am still at risk for all of those.

[Jazz2006]

63. Yes, the MMR vaccine...

(for measles, mumps and rubella) has been available for a long time. It has been mandatory for children here where I live for decades.

The chicken pox vaccine is of much more recent vintage than the MMR vaccine, I believe.

As I was the youngest of 5 children in my family, I tended to get everything that the siblings got in the days before the vaccines.

Edit: and yes, if you haven't had either mumps or chicken pox and you haven't had any vaccinations for them, you remain at risk of contracting either or both. And having either as an adult is, apparently, far worse than having them as a child.

[NYC]

65. I had chicken pox.

Thank goodness for that. I'll try to stay away from mumpy people.

[TexasLawyer]

45. I'm an Iowan

living in Texas now. I grew up in Des Moines, and almost all the Iowans I know are progressives and activists. My elderly mother is farther left than I am, and that's saying something.

[gizmo1979]

54. But are they mumpy?

I live in WI.I got the mumps on a family trip to Iowa a very long time ago.I think it's a conspiracy.

[Hobarticus]

72. Curses, you've foiled our plot...

We use native-born Iowans to spread mumps, because everyone leaves the state at some point or another.

:evilgrin:

[Gelliebeans]

44. More information....

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12097831/

Here are some questions answered to some earlier posts up thread:


<snip>
CDC spokeswoman Lola Russell said the federal agency has no answers yet. Quinlisk said one theory is that the infection was brought over from England — perhaps by a college student — because the strain seen in Iowa has been identified by the CDC as the same one that has caused tens of thousands of cases of the mumps in a major outbreak in Britain over the past two years.

<snip>
A mumps vaccine was introduced in 1967. Iowa law requires schoolchildren to be vaccinated, and the state’s last major outbreak was in 1987, when 476 people were infected.

Of the 245 patients this year, at least 66 percent had had the recommended two-shot vaccination, while 14 percent had received one dose, the Public Health Department said.

“The vaccine is working,” Quinlisk said. “The vaccine certainly was made to cover this particular strain, because it’s a fairly common strain of mumps.” Quinlisk said the vaccine overall is considered about 95 percent effective.

[TexasLawyer]

46. A "fire drill" for bird flu?

NOT a comforting thought, when you consider the officials don't know how the mumps outbreak started, they don't know how to stop it, they were slow to recognize the problem, and the "cure" for mumps is to let the disease "run its course."

So I'm hoping this mumps thing is not an exact template for how we'll be dealing with bird flu.


from the article:

"Doctors say that dealing with the mumps outbreak provides a testing opportunity for outbreaks of other diseases, such as bird flu. It also tests a system put into place after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to deal more effectively with biological emergencies.

"We can take this mumps epidemic as kind of a fire drill for what might happen if bird flu suddenly became transmissible to humans and was introduced into the United States," said Dr. William Schaffner of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

<snip> There is no treatment for the disease, the CDC says on its Web site; the disease must run its course."

[Fun Doom Mentalist]

48. What are the symptoms of MUMPS?

anyone know?

[LeftyMom]

49. Swolen salivary glands, fever of 100-104 degrees, appetite loss, headache

and back pain. The swelling is generally gone within a week but sometimes spreads to the opposite side of the face if only one was effected and lasts a few more days.

In women and children it's generally harmless. Infected adult men can suffer orchitis which can cause sterility in the affected testicle.

[Hekate]

51. It is miserable and painful. It hurt to swallow when I had it

The pain wasn't in the throat, but in the infected/inflamed salivary glands. At one point my dad brought me my favorite food in the whole world (boysenberries), but it hurt too much to eat -- kind of a shooting pain through the jaws.

The worst affected was my baby sister. My brother and I were in the primary grades, and we brought home whatever was going around. I think she had two or three illnesses in that one year -- chickenpox and measles would have been the other two.

In any case, she went from being a chubby and fast-growing baby to being a sickly and skinny undersized little girl. She really didn't get better until her tonsils were removed when she was in 5th grade. After that she shot up in height, and remained skinny only because she grew so fast.

When I was in high school I met a girl who'd had complications from mumps. She'd gotten encephalitis, and it blinded her. She needed crutches and braces to get around, and I think there were some kind of inner-ear problems that made her balance bad. It was truly scary.

The MMR vaccine came along about the time I had my two kids, and I made sure they got it. I'm sorry it doesn't confer lifetime immunity, but it's truly a case of "Well, now we know," so I hope the medical community starts making booster shots available. After all, we get booster shots for other things, like tetanus, throughout our lives.

Hekate

[Lars39]

60. One of my brothers had the mumps and chicken pox at the same time.

He was so sick,Mom was really afraid he was going to die.

[Fun Doom Mentalist]

62. wow- sorry to hear that!

Those are some awful stories!
I hope I never get it!

thanks for the info-
see ya around--

[susanna]

73. A little off topic...

Having had encephalitis as a 14 year old many years ago, I am always sobered by those who do not recover as well as I did. Your post really brought that back.

According to my mother, I lost 20 lbs. in 2 weeks and spent one of those weeks in a coma. I blessedly do not remember. Thankfully I only had mild brain damage afterwards, but nothing that prevented me from resuming my life as somewhat normal. I did have one new learning "disability": I suddenly became very logical after having been a creative sort. (My guess is the worst damage was to the creative side of my brain, and my logical side had to pick up the slack.)

Not to be annoying, but as a short aside for folks who disregard mosquito/encephalitis notices in tropical areas? Don't. Wear the long pants and a repellent. :-)

[Up2Late]

56. More info in the OP (Original post) from Reuters...

...Plus a few really good post just below that. :kick:

[norml]

74. Mumps Cases Spread in Neb., 8 Other States

April 17, 2006, 6:13PM
Mumps Cases Spread in Neb., 8 Other States


By KEVIN O'HANLON Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska, which is part of an nine-state mumps epidemic, is now reporting 110 cases of the disease in 22 counties, health officials said Monday. Thirty-two of those cases are confirmed.

"Currently, most of our mumps cases are in southeastern Nebraska," said Dr. Anne O'Keefe, epidemiologist for the state Health and Human Services System.

She said most of the cases are among people ages 10 to 18 and 35 to 45.

"However, we're seeing cases in children as young as 2 and adults up to age 64," she said.

The mumps epidemic is the nation's first in 20 years.

Some 600 suspected cases have been reported in Iowa, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There are also cases reported in Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Wisconsin and Minnesota.


snip


http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/health/3799595.html

[BiggJawn]

52. Well, is Mumps worse that getting Autism from the vaccine?

That's what the Woo-Woos say, Vaccines give you Autism.

So take "Emergen-C" because "Some of those people look TERRIBLE!", and think about pure, white light.

[Fun Doom Mentalist]

64. what's a woo woo?

?

[BiggJawn]

66. One definition (from SkepticWiki)

Woo-woo (or sometimes, simply woo) is used within parts of the skeptical community in referring to extraordinary beliefs for which it is felt there is insufficient extraordinary evidence, and
people who hold those beliefs.

Sometimes used as an adjective ("My brother has a lot of woo-woo beliefs"), other times as a noun ("That message board is full of woo-woos"), it is almost always used as a term of derision.

Origin

The origin of the term is unclear.

One theory is that it comes from the "woo-ooo" sound made by a Theramin, the electronic instrument often used in old horror films to emphasize that something strange or mysterious was happening (such as the appearance of a ghost or alien). Another theory is that the term woo-woo comes from the theme song of Rod Serlings's The Twilight Zone. Yet another theory is that "woo woo" was early 20th century slang for insanity.

[kineneb]

67. Childhood memories of illnesses

In the early 1960s, many of the vaccines we now take for granted were just being developed. I was fortunate to have been raised by enlightened grandparents who saw to it that I got all the vaccines as soon as they became available. We had seen what happened to those who were exposed to measles, mumps and other "childhood" diseases:
- a cousin who lost the use of one kidney from measles
- my grandfather- was mostly deaf from an epidemic of measles (or mumps, I don't remember which) which he contracted in an army camp in England during WWI- the only "treatment" was quarantine
- a school friend who had rheumatic fever which damaged her brain and left her a very slow learner

And there were still outbreaks of polio then. It had all the parents scared. Grandma saw to it that I got the new polio vaccine as soon as it was released.

[drm604]

69. Most of those vaccines weren't available in time for me.

I did get the smallpox vaccine as a baby. I contracted measles, mumps "German measles" (rubella?), because vaccines weren't yet available for those. Luckily I had no noticeable lasting damage from any of them (I realize that not everyone was so lucky).

I vividly remember going with my parents to a local school auditorium and waiting in line for a sugar cube containing polio vaccine (which I now know was the Sabin vaccine). Even then there was some paranoia about vaccines. Right after we got home my younger brother got a case of hiccups. My mother freaked out and called the family doctor who assured her that there was no connection. Other than that almost certainly unconnected case of hiccups, we suffered no obvious ill effects.

[Hobarticus]

70. Living in Iowa town with four colleges, they may be closing three....

It's that bad, here. They're trying to isolate it, but I think it got the jump on the public health folks.