Florida Department of Health recommends vaccinating your children against the Mumps
In Florida, the number of reported mumps cases has remained relatively low over the past five years but started to increase in 2015 with ten cases and in 2016 with 16 cases. The last time the number of reported cases reached 2017 levels was in the 1990s.
Mumps is a contagious disease that is caused by a virus, but it can be prevented by a vaccine given routinely to children.
Before the U.S. mumps vaccination program started in 1967, mumps was a universal disease of childhood, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since the vaccine era, there has been a more than 99 percent decrease in mumps cases across the nation.
However, mumps outbreaks can still occur in highly vaccinated communities in the U.S. and the Caribbean, particularly in close-contact settings such as schools, colleges and camps. Florida and the Caribbean have seen mumps cases among children and adults during 2017. Fortunately, high vaccination coverage helps to limit the size, duration and spread of mumps outbreaks.
Mumps spreads through droplets of saliva or mucus from the mouth, nose or throat when an infected person coughs or sneezes, or on items touched by a person carrying the virus.
Mumps typically starts with fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness and loss of appetite. Subsequently, most people will have swelling of their salivary glands. This is what causes the puffy cheeks and a tender, swollen jaw.
If untreated, mumps can cause serious complications such as swelling of the brain (encephalitis), swelling of the tissue covering the brain and spinal cord (meningitis) and deafness.
Mumps can be prevented with MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella. The CDC recommends children get two doses of MMR vaccine, starting with the first dose at 12 to 15 months of age, and the second dose at 4 to 6 years of age. Teens and adults also should also be up to date on their MMR vaccination.
MMR vaccine is very safe and effective. The mumps component of the MMR vaccine is 88 percent effective on average when a person gets two doses, and 78 percent effective on average with one dose.
Children may also get MMRV vaccine, which adds protection against varicella (chickenpox). This vaccine is only licensed for use in children who are 12 months through 12 years of age.
Other ways to prevent mumps are to wash hands often and thoroughly, to stay home when sick and to clean objects touched by a person who is ill.
More information: Florida Department of Health, www.floridahealth.gov/mumps
CDC, www.cdc.gov/mumps
Haz clic para leer en Español: El Departamento de Salud de Florida recomienda vacunar a sus hijos contra las Paperas