105 Confirmed Cases At Temple University Suffering From Mumps Outbreak

Measles cases are soaring around the world, including the United States, where Rockland County in New York state recently had to declare a state of emergency because of the outbreak.

But the outbreaks aren’t just limited to measles.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that 105 students at Temple University have been diagnosed with the mumps since first being reported in February. To combat this, Temple is now prepared to vaccinate nearly 1,800 students and staff at the school through a free clinic.

Mark Denys, the director of Temple’s student and staff health services, said at a news conference that he hoped the numbers could decline as the vaccinations continue.

Temple posted a link to the clinic details on its Twitter account.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the mumps is classified as a viral infection affecting salivary glands that causes swelling. It was a fairly common disease in the U.S. until vaccines were developed. Mumps can also cause pain in the swollen areas, pain while chewing, fever, headache, muscle aches, weakness, fatigue, or loss of appetite.

The CDC also points out the serious long-term health effects from the mumps, which can include swelling of the testicles in males who have hit puberty, swelling of ovaries or breasts in females who hit puberty, brain swelling, meningitis and loss of hearing.

But, like the measles outbreaks, the growing number of un-vaccinated people has caused an increased number of mumps cases over the last few years, typically at schools or colleges.

The resulting outbreak at Temple has also forced the school to announce a new policy that will require incoming freshman to be up-to-date on any MMR vaccinations. Temple will also require being up-to-date on vaccines for chicken pox, tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis.