By NewsDesk   @bactiman63

University of Arkansas

In a follow-up on the mumps outbreak at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, state health officials have confirmed 26 cases of the mumps at the University of Arkansas Fayetteville campus since September, according to a THV 11 report.

Image/ADH

In late November, the Arkansas Department of Health issued a public health directive that any student not immunized with at least 2 doses of MMR according to University of Arkansas policy will either need to be vaccinated immediately or excluded from class/class activities for 26 days.

School health officials say that half of the roughly 400 students who were under-vaccinated or not vaccinated at all, half have updated their immunization status and returned to class.

College of Charleston

According to a Live 5 News report, five additional mumps cases were reported at the college, bringing the outbreak total at CofC to 61.

Since September, the College has hosted two two-day vaccine clinics on campus, and officials say the vast majority of the mumps cases are no longer infectious.

Mumps is a viral illness that is easily transmitted through coughing and sneezing, and direct contact with respiratory droplets or saliva from an infected person. There is no treatment for mumps, however symptoms usually resolve themselves within a few weeks.

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The best way to protect against mumps is to get the MMR vaccine. The MMR vaccine also protects against measles and rubella. It is also called the MMR shot. Unvaccinated people are nine times more likely to get mumps than people with two doses of MMR vaccine.

From January 1 to October 11, 2019, 48 states and the District of Columbia in the U.S. reported mumps infections in 2,618 people to CDC.