A University student is one of three people in Lane County with a confirmed case of the mumps, Lane County Public Health officials
announced Wednesday.
Four other University students await test results for the viral illness, an infection of the salivary glands spread by coughing, sneezing, kissing or sharing utensils, a University Health Center official said.
Two of the students showing symptoms went to the emergency room at Sacred Heart Medical Center, and the other two went to the health center, said Dr. Ben Douglas, medical director at the health center. None of the students lives in the residence halls, he said.
Mumps is usually not a serious, life-threatening illness and generally is contracted during childhood. People who catch it are sick for about a week before recovering, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention press release.
Symptoms typically occur 12-25 days after exposure to the virus and include fever, feeling sick and swelling in the parotid glands, the cheek glands close to the jaw and ears,
Douglas said. Other symptoms are headache, loss of appetite, muscle aches and tiredness, symptoms similar to the flu. Swollen glands are commonly associated with the mumps, but they don’t appear in all cases.
A recent outbreak of the mumps in the Midwest has led to more than 3,200 confirmed cases in 12 states and is the largest in the last 20 years.
The Midwest outbreak likely started on a college campus, according to the CDC release. College campuses are particularly susceptible to mumps outbreaks because of the large number of people living in close quarters and the lack of complete immunization of the student population, the release says.
Rare complications from the mumps include inflammation of the testicles and ovaries leading to infertility, deafness, meningitis or swelling of other organs.
There is no specific treatment for the illness. Symptoms can be lessened with common pain relievers such as aspirin.
Douglas said anyone feeling ill and showing signs of the mumps should first call the health center so officials can take precautions to lower the risk of exposing others to the illness.
Measures to reduce the chance of catching or spreading the mumps include two doses of the Measles, Mumps, Rubella vaccination, washing your hands, covering your coughs and sneezes and not sharing drinks or food.
The University requires students to have two doses of the measles vaccine but doesn’t require the mumps vaccine, Douglas said. The health center is ordering extra doses of mumps vaccine, Douglas said.
Having the illness in the past or receiving at least one dose of the MMR typically gives immunity against the mumps, Douglas said.
Two doses of the MMR vaccine protects 90 percent of people from the mumps, according to a Lane County Public Health press release.
However, some people have still caught the illness even though they had a complete immunization history, according to the release.
The Associated Press contributed to this report