By NewsDesk @infectiousdiseasenews
Officials with the University of North Carolina’s Campus Health are reporting a confirmed case of mumps in a UNC-Chapel Hill student.
The dates the student may have been infectious were January 11 through the 18. The risk to the general population of contracting mumps from this student is low.
Symptoms from exposure to this student could develop between January 23 through February 12, 2020.
Mumps is a viral illness spread through direct contact with respiratory droplets (from coughing and sneezing) and saliva from an infected person.
The most common symptoms include fever, muscle aches, unusual tiredness, loss of appetite, headache, and swollen, tender salivary glands under the ears on one or both sides.
Most people fully recover from mumps, however, medical complications such as inflammation in the brain and organs can occur.
Symptoms usually begin 16-18 days after exposure, but the range can be as short as 14 days and as long as 25 days from the exposure. People with mumps are most infectious 2 days before their symptoms begin but may be infectious up to 7 days before onset of symptoms.
MMR vaccine prevents most, but not all, cases of mumps and complications caused by the disease. People who have received two doses of the MMR vaccine are about nine times less likely to get mumps than unvaccinated people who have the same exposure to mumps virus. However, some people who receive two doses of MMR can still get mumps, especially if they have prolonged, close contact with someone who has the disease. If a vaccinated person does get mumps, they will likely have less severe illness than an unvaccinated person.
Last year, the CDC received reports of more than 3,400 mumps cases from 48 states and the District of Columbia.
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