Health Officials Urge College Students To Get Mumps Vaccination After Outbreak At U Of I
(CBS) -- State health officials are warning parents to get their college students vaccinated against mumps after an outbreak at the University of Illinois.
69 cases have already been connected to the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana campus. Melanie Arnold of the Illinois Department of Health says that is a significant number.
"Typically we do not see outbreaks like this," Arnold said. "In some low years we've seen as few as 30 cases. In 2006-2007, there was a nationwide outbreak and we saw cases in the hundreds. We're hoping to keep it below that."
Arnold says students should still get the booster even if they have had one or two previous mumps vaccinations. Immunity usually takes two weeks after receiving the shot, so students attending in the fall are encouraged to get their booster now.
Mumps is a viral disease that is highly contagious. For more information on mumps, visit the IDPH website at www.idph.state.il.us.