The mumps outbreak is continuing to spread all over the world. More than 45 states are reporting cases of mumps this year. A new report said that the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) is investigating an outbreak of Mumps in northwest Arkansas.
Know About Mumps
As described by Healthline, mumps is a contagious disease caused by a virus that passes from one person to another through saliva, nasal secretions, and close personal contact. The condition primarily affects the parotid glands, also called salivary glands.
Symptoms of mumps usually appear within two weeks of exposure to the virus. Flu-like symptoms may be the first to appear, including fatigue, body aches, headache, loss of appetite and low-grade fever. Most people who contract mumps show symptoms of the virus.
Cases In Arkansas Is The Highest In The U.S.
According to CDC, mumps is a contagious disease caused by a virus. MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine is the best way to protect against mumps. It is no longer very common in the United States, but outbreaks continue to occur.
Outbreaks have most commonly occurred in places where people have had prolonged, close contact with a person who has mumps, such as attending the same class or meeting, playing on the same sports team, or living in the same dormitory.
Arkansas is one of the states with high mumps cases. Colleges are becoming a hot spot for the virus. Just this week in Arkansas there have been confirmed cases at both the University of Central Arkansas in Conway and Henderson State in Arkadelphia.
Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) is investigating an outbreak of Mumps in northwest Arkansas. "Throughout this outbreak, 90% to 95% of school-aged children and 30 percent to 40 percent of adults involved in the outbreak have been fully immunized."
The vaccine is not perfect. Two doses of the MMR shot are about 88 percent effective at preventing the mumps. That means that if you have 100 people who are fully vaccinated, 88 of them will be fully protected. The remaining 12 will still be vulnerable to mumps, ADH added.
