In a follow-up to a report earlier this week, Kansas state and Lawrence-Douglas County health authorities have identified two laboratory confirmed cases of mumps in Lawrence.
Since mid-December, they have investigated several other individuals who exhibited mumps-like symptoms, but the illnesses were not confirmed by a laboratory test. All of the individuals investigated are University of Kansas students.
Mumps is becoming increasingly more common on college campuses in the United States. The disease has been reported on multiple college campuses in 2016 including the State University of New York at Buffalo,Indiana University, University of Kentucky, University of San Diego, University of Southern Maine, Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire and Harvard University, among others.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Mumps is a viral illness that is transmitted by direct contact with respiratory droplets or saliva from an infected person. It is best known for painful, swollen salivary glands that show up as puffy cheeks and swollen jaw.
Boys may also have painful, swollen testicles. Other symptoms include fever, headache, muscles aches, tiredness, and loss of appetite.
There is no treatment, and symptoms usually resolve themselves within a few weeks. Mumps is usually a mild disease in children, but adults may have more serious disease with complications.
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