Confirmed Cases of Mumps on IU Campus

Photo from CDC Website

Five cases of mumps have been confirmed recently at Indiana University, four of which are at the Bloomington campus and one is one the Indiana University-Purdue University campus.

The University if working with both county and state health departments to identify anyone who may be at risk of contracting the illness. University officials are advising students, faculty and staff to look at their vaccination history. Any IU Bloomington students with symptoms, even if they have received the Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) vaccine, should stay at home and call the campus health center before arriving.

According to the CDC: Mumps, mumps is caused by the mumps virus. It is spread through saliva and mucus from the mouth, nose and throat by coughing, sneezing, talking, sharing of items used in eating and drinking and touching contaminated surfaces. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, loss of appetite and the tell-tale sign, swollen salivary glands, resulting in puffy cheeks. Symptoms can take up three weeks to appear after initial infection, and the actual illness can last just as long.

Since this has historically been a childhood disease, complications can arise in adults. Adults, especially those born before 1957, that suspect that they have been exposed mumps should consult their primary care physician