Officials with the Toronto District School Board (DSB) sent a letter to parents today concerning the mumps outbreak in the city and vaccination requirements for students after reports of a mumps case from Forest Hill Collegiate Institute.
In the letter from Dr. Vinita Dubey, Associate Medical Officer of Health, Toronto Public Health (TPH) it states: The risk of acquiring the mumps in Toronto schools is low because most schools have high vaccination rates and the mumps vaccine is required for school attendance in Ontario. Students who are not up-to-date with mumps vaccinations can be excluded from school.
Since the mumps has now been identified in a Toronto school, we are asking parents/guardians to take the following general precautions:
1) Check vaccination records for you and your child:
- Two doses of mumps vaccine (MMR, MMRV) are recommended.
- Children 4 years and older need two doses; check your child’s yellow immunization card.
- Parents/guardians born between 1970 and 1992 may have received only one dose as a child. If an adult is unsure about their vaccinations or has only received one dose of mumps-containing vaccine, a booster dose is recommended.
2) Watch for symptoms of mumps: The mumps infection causes fever, swelling of one or more salivary glands, loss of appetite, tiredness, and headache. If you or your child have symptoms of the mumps and are ill, please contact your health care provider and do not attend work or school.
Through Monday, TPH has reported 26 confirmed cases of mumps in Toronto in 2017.
