Following reports from Illinois state health officials of some 150 mumps cases statewide, including the bulk of cases linked to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Eastern Illinois University in Charleston has reported “a small number of students” with Mumps during the week of September 8-11, 2015.
Although the school did not give specific numbers, local media report two cases at the university.
Sheila D. Baker, MD, Medical Director with Eastern Illinois University Health Service writes in a news release:
Individuals diagnosed with mumps will be asked to self-isolate during the contagious period, meaning they will not be allowed to attend class and will most likely be asked to return home to recuperate.
Students with signs or symptoms consistent with mumps should call Health Service at 581-3013 or 581-2727 before presenting to the clinic. Students will be examined and evaluated, but it is very important that they call in advance.
The McKinley Health Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign continue their MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccination clinic that began Sept. 8 and will end this Friday.
In an update on the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak with residents at the Illinois Veteran’s Home – Quincy, health officials report two additional deaths due to the bacterial infection. As of Monday, 54 Legionnaires’ cases have been reported, including 11 deaths.
Robert Herriman is a microbiologist and the Editor-in-Chief of Outbreak News Today and the Executive Editor of The Global Dispatch
Follow @bactiman63
