UWindsor students may be at risk for mumps virus
By Hannah Larking
News Editor
January 28, 2009
 The Ministry of Health is playing catch-up after announcing that 80 per cent of people born between 1970 and 1991 are not fully protected from the viral disease, mumps.
According to a report released on the Ontario Ministry of Health website, people born between those years were only vaccinated once, rather than twice, with MMR, the vaccine that protects against measles, mumps and rubella.
Outbreaks of mumps have recently been documented across the country, including in Ontario, said Judi Wilson, health promotion nurse at Health Services. Mumps is a contagious viral disease that can result in serious complications. Among other things, mumps can cause swelling of the testicles, a condition known as orchitis, and often results in infertility. It can also cause meningitis (inflammation of the brain and spinal cord with headache or a stiff neck), oophoritis (swelling of the ovaries), mastitis (swelling of the breasts), deafness, and other dangerous conditions. Spontaneous abortion can also occur if the infection develops within the first trimester of pregnancy.
Initial symptoms of mumps include fever, headache, muscle pains, tiredness, and loss of appetite, but about 20 per cent of infected people have no symptoms and can still spread the virus to others. According to the same government website, another 40 to 50 per cent have symptoms that may or may not be related to mumps, such as respiratory or cold-like symptoms.
The mumps virus is highly contagious. It is spread through saliva or droplets, including coughs and sneezes, and can also survive on surfaces. Individuals diagnosed with mumps must be kept in isolation for nine days
Health Services will be holding a mumps vaccination clinic on Jan. 28 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Vanier Hall, but after that, students are recommended to contact their family doctors or visit a walk-in clinic for a free vaccination.
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