In June 2009, a family in New York returned from a vacation in the UK. Though they did not know it at the time, their 11 year old son had contracted Mumps (there were more than 7,000 cases of Mumps in the UK in 2009).
As of January 2010, more than 1,500 cases of Mumps have occurred in New York and New Jersey and all are felt related to this single source. Patients affected have ranged in age from 3 months to 90 years and some have required hospitalization for treatment.
The Mumps vaccine has been used routinely in the United States since 1967 and the number of cases of Mumps has decreased from almost 200,000 per year to less than 500 cases in most years. Mumps vaccine is a component of the childhood MMR. However, the disease remains common in other areas of the world because only about half of countries have mumps vaccination programs. As a result, the risk of exposure to mumps among travelers can be high in most countries of the world. Although mumps is generally a mild and self-limited disease, complications of mumps infection can include deafness; orchitis, oophoritis, or mastitis (inflammation of the testicles, ovaries or breasts, respectively); pancreatitis; and meningitis or encephalitis. With the exception of deafness, these complications are more frequent in adults than in children. Although vaccination against mumps is not a requirement for entry into any country (including the United States), travelers leaving the United States should ensure they are immune to mumps. Adults previously likely vaccinated or infected with mumps virus but who have negative antibody tests will usually respond to a single dose of the mumps vaccine. Mumps vaccine is available alone but is most commonly administered as the MMR vaccine, providing protection against measles, mumps and rubella.
Written / Posted by: Scott W. Yates, MD, MBA, MS, FACP
