Young people urged to get mumps vaccine as cases double

College students and young people are being urged to get the MMR vaccine as twice as many cases of the mumps have been recorded this year.

The number of mumps notifications in Ireland continues to escalate, with 547 mumps cases reported up to the end of this week as compared to a total of 223 in 2013, according to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).

The most recent upsurge coincided with the beginning of the academic term in autumn, and 60 per cent of this year’s cases are among males.

Mumps is a contagious viral infection most common in children over the age of two who have not been vaccinated, as well as teenagers and young adults. It is spread via airborne droplets, often when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Symptoms include fever, headache and a swollen jaw or cheeks.

People who are infected are most contagious one to two days before the onset of symptoms and for five days afterwards.

Complications are usually mild but can include meningitis, deafness and inflammation of the testicles, ovaries or pancreas.

The highest number of notifications is among individuals aged 15-24 years of age, with a particular peak in those aged 19 and 20 years of age.

The HSPC said the current mumps outbreaks demonstrates that outbreaks may occur in highly vaccinated populations.

Similar outbreaks in highly vaccinated populations have been reported in the USA and the UK. The HSPC said there is good evidence to indicate that the size of the outbreaks is much less when a majority of the population have had two doses of MMR.

The MMR vaccine is free for children, with the first dose normally given at 12 months, and the second when children start school, aged four or five.

Any teenager or young adult who may not have received two doses of MMR vaccine is encouraged to speak with their GP or student health service.

The last large national mumps outbreak occurred in 2009, when more than 3,500 mumps cases were reported. Control measures at that time focussed on increasing MMR vaccination among students who had not received two doses of the mumps containing vaccine.