The mumps hits UC Berkeley hard

[alp227]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

(10-06) 12:12 PDT BERKELEY -- Mumps - an illness typically associated with little kids - is roaring through UC Berkeley, with seven confirmed cases and 13 more suspected.

"There hasn't been an outbreak in at least five years," said Kim LaPean, spokeswoman for the campus' Tang Health Center, which is trying to contain the spread.

Mumps is a contagious virus spread by saliva or mucus, with symptoms taking two or three weeks to show up. These include fever, headache, loss of appetite - and the telltale swollen glands under the ears, jaw, cheeks, or even under the tongue.

The Tang Center is urging all students to check their vaccination records to make sure they've received two doses of the MMR vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/06/BAD11LEC5O.DTL

[virgogal]

1. 20 total cases and it is "roaring through" the university? Stupid.

[Tesha]

2. It's a disease that is supposed to be obsolete and it can have serious repurcussions...

...for young men who contract it.

Tesha

[jwirr]

9. Yes, if I remember it can lead to infertility. Isn't there a vaccine for that

now? Is it not working or are people just not getting it when they should?

[Confusious]

11. Been a vaccine for it for a long long time

All my 42 years. That's the MMR, measles, mumps, rubella.

But the stupid people are afraid it causes teh autism.

[kestrel91316]

37. Antivaxers have convinced gullible people to deprive their children of safe and effective

vaccinations for all manner of diseases.

This sort of thing is the logical consequence of the resulting declining herd immunity.

[ikri]

22. A colleague of mine contracted it a couple of years ago

He was visiting his younger girlfriend at university and one of her house mates had it. He had some pretty nasty complications, was off work for a a month initially and ended up having a testicle removed.

It can have some very nasty repercussions indeed.

[SkyDaddy7]

6. Stupid? Your comment sure is!

Mumps is not the common cold & 20 cases on University campus is EXTREMELY serious!

[virgogal]

14. Well thank you. By the way.I've had the mumps---no vaccine

when I grew up.

I still think "roaring through" is a bit of a stretch,though for the amount of cases on a campus that size.

[kestrel91316]

38. You, however, might have difficulty in developing orchitis from it.

So yeah, why should you give a shit about anyone else's health as long as YOU are ok?

CDC has a page on the complications that can result from mumps:
http://www.cdc.gov/mumps/about/complications.html

snip

The most common complication is inflammation of the testicles (orchitis) in males who have reached puberty; rarely does this lead to fertility problems.

Other rare complications include:

Inflammation of the brain and/or tissue covering the brain and spinal cord (encephalitis/meningitis)
Inflammation of the ovaries (oophoritis) and/or breasts (mastitis) in females who have reached puberty
Deafness

~~~~~~~~~~~

Yeah, I don't get what all the fuss is about. Who gives a shit if some young college student goes deaf? Or develops encephalitis and brain damage??

[virgogal]

58. Oh for heaven's sake----I criticized the wording of the article,not

the severity of the disease.

Take a deep breath and calm down.

[AnneD]

50. Twenty cases......

in one area when there is a vaccine available and these kids should have immunity IS roaring through. Disease spread by air borne droplets among a compact grouping of people with a large contact circel...it is a disaster waiting to happen. If I am not mistaken, there is a large number of antivaxers in the area.

I have been a School Nurse for years and deal with immunizations every day. I have repeatedly told my parents that this would be the inevetable outcome. And childhood diseases contracted in adulthood can be very nasty indeed.

[Gormy Cuss]

28. It was comparative to the rate in the city of Berkeley.

The city has about four times as many people as campus and it's seen only 6 cases in the past twenty years.

The university is urging that everyone get a booster even if they believe they are fully immunized so they're taking it seriously.

FWIW, I had mumps as did most of my siblings and friends in the pre-vaccine days. Deafness and male sterility were the biggest concern.

[kestrel91316]

36. Hardly stupid. Childhood viruses that strike susceptible adults (and there didn't used to be

such a thing) can have deadly or at the least life-changing consequences.

If you care so little for the lives and health of your fellow human beings, why on earth do you consider yourself a Democrat??????

[kestrel91316]

41. Mumps is now considered a RARE disease, so 20 cases is downright appalling.

[melm00se]

59. when you look at the "normal" number of cases

yes.

according to the CDC

In 2006, the United States experienced a multi-state outbreak involving 6584 reported cases of mumps. This resurgence predominantly affected Midwestern college students with the highest attack rates occurring among those living in dormitories. In the following two years, the number of reported cases returned to usual levels, and outbreaks involved fewer than 20 cases.

http://www.cdc.gov/mumps/outbreaks.html

[Madam Mossfern]

3. Yes

My daughter called me last night to confirm that she had been inoculated. Absolutely, MMR twice when she was a baby. I may have been a 'unique' mom and an herbalist, but I was not stupid.

[AnneD]

52. I am a School Nurse....

but I appreciate hers and herbal knowledge. They go hand in hand.

Once I took my 3rd grade daughter to Huntsville Tx to see the grave of Sam Houston. We were standing on the bluff when my daughter asked why did so many of those graves have lambs or angels on the top. Being an avid historian and grave yard walker, I knew the answer but I told her to go out and figure out the age of the person that died.

I watched as she kept walking to the graves. She kept looking sadder and sadder. She came back and said they were all children. We looked out and she could see how infant/child mortality was once so high. We could see when flu or diphtheria took have of the towns children. It use to be that 1 in 4 children survived childhood. Now it is maybe 1 in 8-10. I told her so many survive today because of better drinking water and sewage systems and immunizations. People have forgotten the basics. I :banghead: to teach it to these kids daily, most parents don't even think about it.

[drm604]

4. Why weren't these kids vaccinated?

I hope this isn't some new strain that the current vaccine doesn't protect against.

[SkyDaddy7]

8. My guess without knowing the facts would be...

We might be seeing the anti-vaccination babies taken their toll on society...Whether that is it or not that day is coming.

[customerserviceguy]

19. Yep, all those hippie mommas

I remember the anti-vaccine BS was coming on pretty strong when my kids were born. It was part of the no-circumcision package, too.

Had my boys done, and all three of my kids vaccinated.

[alp227]

30. aww PLEASE don't compare circumcision and vaccines! n/t

[customerserviceguy]

32. Why not?

There are irrational reasons to disfavor both of them, and the "nature mom" movement of circa 1980 felt the same way about both.

[alp227]

34. Vaccines prevent communicable disease.

Circumcision does NOTHING to benefit health and is a barbaric religious practice.

[COLGATE4]

40. Helps prevent HIV to a great extent in circumcised males. Also is

essentially a guarantee against penile cancer. These are two significant health benefits.

[customerserviceguy]

55. Thank you. n/t

[Hestia]

5. What I find interesting is that there must be quite a few kids who aren't innoculated --

usually there is herd immunity. Depending on how many, there maybe quite a few more who may contract this.

[kestrel91316]

39. EXACTLY. Herd immunity is low enough that the disease can propagate

through it. And there are no doubt subclinical and unreported cases, too.

[xchrom]

7. Recommend

[Confusious]

10. My school requires MMR proof before you can register

Guess the "Top Minds" at UC Berkley aren't so smart.

BTW, you can get into the school without proof, you just can't register for classes. Which means: NO CLASS. NO CREDIT. NO DEGREE.

[XemaSab]

12. At my school you could plead religious exemption

but if there was a single case then you would have to leave school.

[Confusious]

13. Didn't see that when I got the shot again

Didn't get teh autism either. Found my papers a day or two after I got the shot. 'course didn't get teh autism the first time either.

Some things you shouldn't be able to plead religious exemption. You don't like the food, fine. You want the holidays, fine. You want to endanger the rest of us, NOT FINE.

Not directed at you, I'm just frustrated with the stupid people of the world.

[dipsydoodle]

15. As there was no vaccine for mumps until c. 1967

makes you wonder how the fuck some of us survived. :sarcasm:

[Confusious]

16. Just to be sure,

you're saying people should suffer from a preventable disease, is that right?

What are complications of mumps?

There are four serious complications of mumps: meningitis (infection of the spinal fluid which surrounds the brain and spinal cord), encephalitis (infection of the brain substance), deafness, and orchitis (infection of the testicle/testicles). All three complications may occur without the patient experiencing the classic involvement of the parotid gland.

Meningitis: More than 50% of patients with mumps will have meningitis, which may occur during any period of the disease. Generally patients make a full recovery without permanent side effects.


Encephalitis: Until the 1960s mumps was the primary cause of confirmed viral encephalitis in the United States. Since the successful introduction of a vaccination program, the incidence of mumps encephalitis has fallen to 0.5%. Fortunately, most patients recover completely without permanent side effects.


Deafness: Preceding the mumps vaccination program, permanent nerve damage resulting in deafness was not unusual. While occasionally bilateral, more commonly only one ear was affected.


Orchitis: This complication was the most common side effect (40%) to postpubertal males who contracted mumps. Severe pain (often requiring hospitalization for pain management) was one-sided in 90% of cases. Between 30%-50% of affected testes atrophied (decreased in size), and 13% demonstrated impaired fertility. The "common knowledge" of sterility was actually rare. Previous concerns regarding mumps orchitis and later testicular cancer have not been proven. (Ovarian involvement occurred in approximately 7% of postpubertal girls.)


And the follow up to that question is the following question. Why?

[dipsydoodle]

18. Death from mumps is highly unlikely - in the UK at least.

Doubtless you can provide a link to confirm otherwise in the USA.

[Confusious]

20. You didn't answer my question

It wasn't about death.

it's easy. yes or no.

you're saying people should suffer with a preventable disease.

[dipsydoodle]

21. Do you still beat your partner ?

Same type of question. If you don't allow puplis/students without vaccs in the US then you really are paranoid over there. When I was a kid most of us had mumps, chicken pox , scarlet fever, measles etc when we were seven or so and I have no recollection of anyone suffering lasting effects.

Goodnight.

[Confusious]

25. Logic fail

Have you stopped beating your wife implies that either you stopped beating your wife, or you haven't stopped beating your wife.

My question, "do you believe people should suffer with a preventable disease?"

If you answer no, that implies "no, you don't think people should suffer with preventable diseases" which is really nothing at all. I'll be brave enough to answer the question "Do you think puppies should be beaten?" I don't think puppies should be beaten! What a brave stance I have!

The only reason it would bother you to answer no is that somehow, someway, you'd be selling your soul to the devil, in this case vaccines.

By your dogging the answer, one can only conclude that you don't think people should be immunized for it, which is a yes answer. So you are saying people should suffer with preventable diseases.

Well then, I think you need to take a long hard look in the mirror.

BTW my great aunt died of rubella at the age of 2, 1945. I think I would have liked to have know her. So much for the "harmless" childhood diseases.

BTW2, I never had the chicken pox as a kid. I hear if you get it as an adult, you get a more severe case that is associated with higher mortality

In adults, the disease is more severe,<36> though the incidence is much less common. Infection in adults is associated with greater morbidity and mortality due to pneumonia,<37> hepatitis, and encephalitis. In particular, up to 10% of pregnant women with chickenpox develop pneumonia, the severity of which increases with onset later in gestation. In England and Wales, 75% of deaths due to chickenpox are in adults.<9> Inflammation of the brain, or encephalitis, can occur in immunocompromised individuals, although the risk is higher with herpes zoster.<38> Necrotizing fasciitis is also a rare complication.<39>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickenpox

Just because you didn't die doesn't mean no one will. Would you like to explain that to the relatives?

[kestrel91316]

44. Clueless. Completely clueless. Mumps is a minor disease in most children,

but LIKE OTHER CHILDHOOD DISEASES it is more likely to cause severe and even deadly complications in susceptible adults.

Again, thank you for not giving a damn about anyone but yourself.

[kestrel91316]

43. So if people wind up sterile or deaf or brain damaged from it, that's

perfectly ok with you???

Duly noted. And duly noted that you belong in the Repig Party.

[dipsydoodle]

47. Repig Party ?

Unlikely event even more so given that I'm UK. I noticed above you accused somebody else above to the effect of not being a Democrat. WTF have politics got to do with this issue. I was merely pointing out that something which is not generally an issue in Europe , ie mandatory proof of vaccination to attend school , isn't so in the UK.

btw - I am not anti vaccs. I've had flu, Hep A and tetanus jabs myself within the past year - first two rec'd by our NHS for visits to Cuba and the last rec'd due to age.

[B2G]

27. Getting the mumps in adulthood is different that when you're a child

As noted above, far more complications, just like chicken pox, measles, etc.

I had it as a child. I remember it to this day.

[LizW]

48. Born in 1957, I had both measles and mumps b/c no vaccine

I was hospitalized at age four with measles. I remember hallucinating with fever and being under an oxygen tent. My parents were told I would not survive, or I would be blind or brain damaged, but fortunately the docs were wrong about that one.

At 21, I had a summer job in a day care and contracted mumps. It was extremely painful and I missed two weeks of work.

I understand the risks associated with vaccinations, but my kids got them. Having the diseases was very bad, and I was lucky enough not to suffer permanent complications.

[shanti]

29. well i had it as a kid

along with the measles and chicken pox. sick as a dog too....

[REP]

31. Survived polio too; another useless thing to be vaccinated against I suppose

[kestrel91316]

42. Well if you knew jack shit about infectious childhood diseases

(and you clearly do NOT), you would know that when they strike CHILDREN they are typically mild and when they strike adults, that's when trouble is much more common.

My favorite uncle DIED OF CHICKEN POX ENCEPHALITIS when he was 72. He grew up in a remote area out west during the Depression and somehow escaped it, and then either didn't know about the vaccine when he was older or didn't think to get it.

You can shove your flippant attitude toward infectious diseases someplace unmentionable.

[SharonAnn]

46. Well, my brother had the mumps in 1957 and suffered brain damage as a result.

So, we survived but he paid a terrible price for it.

[NickB79]

54. A lot of people didn't survive

Go take a stroll through a graveyard from the turn of the century, and take careful note of all the headstones for young children. They all didn't die of being kicked in the head by horses.

[provis99]

17. spread by those republican cookies, no doubt.

[benld74]

23. Vacinations are your friends -

[bengalherder]

24. For those commenting about vaccinations and the lack therof

My dad got mumps even though he had been vaccinated.

Also, you must understand that nowadays major campuses host people from many differing parts of the world, some of whom might not have had had the mumps vaccine-or perhaps not a good one (witness the recent news with the Pakistani doc caught giving bogus vaccines).

I doubt all of these cases are ONLY because some anti-vaccers didn't vaccinate junior.

[Confusious]

26. My school requires MMR

So it's the fault of the school, who's been listening too much to the anti-vacc crowd.

California is a hotbed of anti-vacc idiot crowd, so it probably was junior.

[kestrel91316]

45. People who get vaccinated still benefit, even if they get the disease,

because they are far less likely to suffer dangerous complications or need any medical attention at all.

And yes, I DO have a degree in microbiology and studied hell out of human virology, immunology, etc. And that was before I went to vet school and learned even more about the same in animals.

[corpseratemedia]

33. IF it's showing up there, it's showing up other campuses..I'm wondering

doesn't the mumps vaccine last? Do adults need to get re-vaccinated? I was shocked when teaching knowing some young adults were going through chicken pox.

[laundry_queen]

35. They are now discovering

that many vaccines 'wear off' over time. In our province at least, they've added a few new boosters here and there in the schedule. Young adults are encouraged to get re-vaccinated for pertussis.

As for my experience with mumps - my kids didn't have the MMR when they were younger (I selectively vaccinate and wait till they are older and I try to split them up) and they played all day with the neighbor's kid. 2 or 3 days later we got the call - the kid had the mumps even though he was fully vaccinated, so I should be on the lookout seeing as my kids weren't vaccinated. None of my kids caught it. So I do think that young adults that HAVE been vaccinated can also catch it. I think the last form that the local health nurse gave me quoted the efficacy rate at around 85%. So that's 15% that will continue to be vulnerable.

[LizW]

49. I was told the chicken pox vaccine lasts approx 10 years

And it is not 100% effective. Both my kids were vaccinated before kindergarten and again as teenagers. I still think one of my sons may have had a mild case in spite of the vaccine.

[slackmaster]

51. I had it when I was a kid, in 1961. I got just one mump.

When I got chicken pox, I got just one pock.

[AnneD]

53. I had it three times.....

they were shocked at the 3rd time, but all my glands did not swell the first time. Chipmunk cheeks for weeks.

[KamaAina]

56. When you do drink beer, do you prefer Dos Equis?

:beer:

[slackmaster]

57. I believe I'm about ready for a couple of Depth Charges