DURHAM, N.H. (WHDH) - State health officials are warning students at the University of New Hampshire that six of their classmates have had confirmed or probable mumps infections over the last two weeks — all of whom had previously been fully vaccinated.
The students involved were all close contacts of each other and officials have not yet identified a broader campus transmission, according to the warning that was issued to the school community on Friday.
In response to the confirmed cases, the New Hampshire Division of Public Health Services is working with UNH to target a third dose of the MMR vaccine to a select group of students within the affected social network and will be working with UNH to reach out to those who need a third dose.
Mumps is an acute viral infection typically characterized by swelling and tenderness of one or more salivary glands, typically the parotid gland (parotitis). Patients can also develop non-specific prodromal symptoms of fever, headache, myalgia, and malaise.
Since 2012, the number of mumps outbreaks nationally has been increasing. Last year, there were more than 3,400 mumps infections reported in the
United States from 48 different states and the District of Columbia.
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