Mumps case at NC university is 8th illness at colleges across Carolinas in last week
Three colleges and universities across the Carolinas have confirmed cases of mumps on their campuses this week.
Elon University in North Carolina sent out an email Tuesday notifying the campus that an undergraduate student had been diagnosed with mumps, according to a release from the school.
The university does not suspect there are any other possible cases on campus, the release says, and “the student is no longer contagious.”
Officials are also looking for others who had direct contact with the student to offer them a third dose of the MMR vaccine out of “an abundance of caution,” according to the release.
This diagnosis is the eighth confirmed case of mumps at colleges and universities in North Carolina and South Carolina this week.
On Monday, The College of Charleston in South Carolina had an “outbreak” of three confirmed cases of the virus, The State reported, and High Point University in North Carolina confirmed four cases after announcing it suspected five last week, WXII reported.
Mumps outbreaks are still possible despite the availability of vaccines and are especially common in “close-contact settings,” such as colleges and universities, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella, is the best way to protect against the virus and is “safe and effective,” the CDC says.
College students are legally required to have the MMR vaccine unless exempt for medical or religious reasons, according to WXII.
Since the two-dose vaccination program started in 1989, cases of mumps in the U.S. have decreased by more than 99 percent, the CDC says.
But since 2006, “there have been several increases in cases and outbreaks about every 5 years,” the CDC said.
From 2015 to 2017, there were 150 outbreaks of the illness, according to the CDC, and as of Sept. 13, there have been 2,363 cases of mumps reported in 47 states this year, the CDC says.
Someone who has mumps can spread it by coughing, sneezing or talking, sharing things like water bottles and cups, participating in “close-contact activities,” or touching things without washing their hands, the CDC says.
Mumps is “pretty mild” in most cases but can cause serious problems and can be deadly, according to the CDC.
Symptoms of the illness include a swollen and tender jaw, puffy cheeks, headache, fever, muscle aches, tiredness and loss of appetite, the CDC says.
If students at Elon University experience these symptoms, they should go to student health, the school says.
