gee - guess I should run right out for that mmr

[schatz]

so, I work at a university in the midwest. I had this email in my inbox this morning.

Members of the [univ name] Community,

As you may know, an outbreak of mumps in Iowa has spread to several states in the Midwest, including xxx. Many of these cases have occurred in campus communities and affected students, faculty and staff who have previously received mumps vaccine.

At [univ name], University Health Services (UHS) has been working with city and state health officials to monitor the spread of mumps.

Mumps is an acute viral illness and is spread from person to person through the air or by direct contact with saliva or infected droplets.

Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pain and a general feeling of discomfort. Commonly the cheek and jaw area (salivary glands) swells on one or both sides within the first two days of illness. [my bold]

Mumps is contagious for 3-5 days before symptoms appear, and up to 9 days after the onset of salivary glands swelling. Mumps can develop in susceptible exposed individuals from 12-25 days after exposure.

Persons diagnosed with mumps will not be permitted to attend class, labs, work or enter childcare facilities.

To limit the spread of mumps, all [univ name] students, faculty and staff should have received two doses of mumps vaccine (MMR). Unvaccinated persons born before 1957 or who have had physician confirmed mumps illness are also considered immune.

Students who have not previously received two doses of vaccine should contact a health care provider or UHS to schedule an immunization.

Faculty and staff are encouraged to directly contact a health care provider to schedule any needed immunizations. In addition, hand washing and covering your cough are good prevention steps.

If you are a student experiencing the symptoms described above, please call UHS at xxx to schedule an appointment with a health care provider.

For more information and prevention tips, visit

Jane Doe, MS, RN, CNAA
Executive Director, University Health Services

I can't believe they didn't even include the "young men can end up sterile" card. Not very good scaremongering if you ask me. So, let me get this straight -- mumps will make me feel generally pretty crappy but it doesn't sound like I will die or become permanently impaired from it and I can prevent getting it by washing my hands and covering a cough. Hmmmm... yes, I'll be running out to get the vax right away.

Grrrrr.... this just makes me so mad. Mumps is just so benign but they're making it out to be a huge, terrible "outbreak". And of course, the vax really does work but gee, so many people are getting sick. It's this kind of crap that made me question the entire theory of immunizations in the first place. Ah, but you guys know all that - I'm venting to the choir.

[Christine&men]

At least they don't post guards/medical personnel at the front door to the class-rooms, needles/vaccine at the ready.

[stayathomecristi]

"As you may know, an outbreak of mumps in Iowa has spread to several states in the Midwest, including xxx. Many of these cases have occurred in campus communities and affected students, faculty and staff who have previously received mumps vaccine."

Ummm--you mean it DOESN'T always work? (insert facetious tone here)

[tayndrewsmama]

You know, a little bit of me wonders if this is the replacement for the whooping cough "stories". It seems to me that they suddenly stopped making any mention of whooping cough "outbreaks" and now only talk about the mumps "outbreak". I find it hard to believe that suddenly people stopped getting whooping cough at the same time people suddenly started getting the mumps. :

[LIZnCHAD]

I live in Iowa and it has been broadcasted on the news like we're all going to die from it tomorrow. Apparently people aged 21-45 only received 1 dose of the vaccine as a regular childhood shot. And now of course it's recommended that they get 2 doses. What the news is saying that the first dose has worn off by then so "vaccinated" people are getting sick. Of course they haven't shown any studies that show what % of the sick have had 1 verse 2.

[Marsupialmom]

Originally Posted by LIZnCHAD

I live in Iowa and it has been broadcasted on the news like we're all going to die from it tomorrow. Apparently people aged 21-45 only received 1 dose of the vaccine as a regular childhood shot. And now of course it's recommended that they get 2 doses. What the news is saying that the first dose has worn off by then so "vaccinated" people are getting sick. Of course they haven't shown any studies that show what % of the sick have had 1 verse 2.

I wonder how accurate that is.........I know I got more than one. I also know I got one after measles broke out in the school I was in and they were vax'ed. This was 89ish.

[schatz]

Originally Posted by stayathomecristi

Many of these cases have occurred in campus communities and affected students, faculty and staff who have previously received mumps vaccine.

Ummm--you mean it DOESN'T always work? (insert facetious tone here)

Ah, but the CDC says the vaccine works so therefore it does right? It has been rather entertaining to watch the public health folks back pedal and dance around the "so if people who are vaxed are getting mumps doesn't that mean the vax doesn't work" issue. Really, they could have saved theirselves a lot of headaches if they just would have kept their mouths shut.

[Ruthla]

Well, of course the vax works, why else would they recomend that people take it? If somebody who's been vaccinated gets the mumps, then they just need to be vaccinated AGAIN, right? Why don't they just recomend annual MMR vaccinations "to be on the safe side?" :

[tayndrewsmama]

Originally Posted by schatz

Really, they could have saved theirselves a lot of headaches if they just would have kept their mouths shut.

That's for sure! I seem to recall, with the whooping cough "outbreak", in our area, that the docs were saying, including our ped, that it was or must have been a "different strain" than vaccinated for. Okay... I haven't heard that one yet about the mumps, but it's still early.

[Kewpie]

How funny! I also work at a university in the midwest and got a very similar message this morning. Actually I got it 6 times because God forbid I somehow miss the other 5.

Our receptionist is all in a tissy, she's running right over to the university's clinic for her MMR shot. I told her that 80% (or more) of mumps cases are from those already vax'd. Her response, "Well they said there aren't really any side effects."

So the flu hysteria didn't work this year, and the pertusis hyesteria didn't work, guess we're moving onto mumps huh?

[marilynmama]

They are pushing it at my school as well. It scared the younger students but all of us over the age of 30 are like "whatever"....lol

[MyLittleWonders]

I thought the mmr is only given 2x now because there's a very small population (like 2-5%) where the first dose doesn't take, so by making it "mandatory" that all kids now get 2 doses, they can make sure they get everyone "covered". Long Island - didn't you post something about that ... my memory is shot.

[LIZnCHAD]

The count is now up to 112o in Iowa. The HORROR!

[LongIsland]

Originally Posted by MyLittleWonders

I thought the mmr is only given 2x now because there's a very small population (like 2-5%) where the first dose doesn't take, so by making it "mandatory" that all kids now get 2 doses, they can make sure they get everyone "covered". Long Island - didn't you post something about that ... my memory is shot.

From the CDC:

Why is a second dose of MMR necessary?
About 2%-5% of persons do not develop measles immunity after the first dose of vaccine. This occurs for a variety of reasons. The second dose is to provide another chance to develop measles immunity for persons who did not respond to the first dose.

The second dose is not a "booster"; it is intended to produce immunity in the small number of persons who fail to respond to the first dose.

Failure to respond to two properly timed doses of MMR vaccine would be expected to occur in one or two persons per thousand vaccinees, at most.

I think this information deserves it's own thread. Maybe some vaxers will realize they don't need that second MMR and will get a titer check.

[Butter]

I'm in the 21-45 year old age range (28) and I've had 3 shots of the MMR. I got the first when I was 15 months old. Second when I was 5 and getting ready to enter kindergarten and then the third at 12. I was told the third was a "booster."

[rmzbm]

Originally Posted by Butter

I'm in the 21-45 year old age range (28) and I've had 3 shots of the MMR. I got the first when I was 15 months old. Second when I was 5 and getting ready to enter kindergarten and then the third at 12. I was told the third was a "booster."

I am also 28 & had the same schedule, except I didn't get my booster cuz I said I was healthy & didn't need or want it & refused...I was SO ahead of my time, LOL!!!!! Truth is, I was scared of the shot - HAHA!!!!! Good thing my Grandparents (who raised me) didn't care about it.

[schatz]

So now the "outbreak" has hit the local news - tv, radio and newspapers. Here's the article that appeared in the paper this morning. I was actually slightly impressed with the way it was written. The tone is not "hurry, run out and get your shots!" even though that is what the headline says.

With four cases of mumps in Dane County this month, including the first one in a UW- Madison student confirmed Tuesday, health officials are giving advice that may seem puzzling.

People who didn't have the disease as children should make sure they have received two doses of the mumps vaccine, the officials say. But most of those sickened throughout the Midwest this year in an Iowa-centered outbreak of more than 1,700 cases - the United States typically sees just 265 cases a year - had received both shots.

The explanation: most vaccines aren't 100 percent effective, even though they can still offer substantial protection.

Yah, I'd say telling people to get two shots for a disease that is mild and not life-threatening is puzzling. The reporter even mentions that people can get waivers although he doesn't go into detail on why someone would get one or how they go about it. Of course, they do mention that if we don't have good vaccine coverage, then we will end up like the UK with 70,000 cases - ack!!! I'm so scared. Bah.