News and Headlines

Actions

Mumps reported at Amy Beverland Elementary

Posted
and last updated

An adult student teacher at Amy Beverland Elementary has been diagnosed with the mumps, according to a statement from Lawrence Township Schools.

The statement says the student teacher has been out of the building since Tuesday. 

No students have been diagnosed. 

Families have been notified and provided with appropriate protocol if they should show any symptoms. 

Mumps has been reported at three local colleges in recent days.

Health officials say the major contributing factor is being in a crowded environment such as a classroom, dorm, or fraternity or sorority with someone who has mumps.

WHAT IS MUMPS?

  • A contagious disease caused by a virus

HOW IS IT SPREAD?

  • Through saliva or mucus from the mouth, nose or throat
  • An infected person can spread the virus by coughing, sneezing or talking
  • Sharing eating utensils
  • Touching objects or surfaces with unwashed hands that are then touched by others
  • Can be spread up to two days before and five days after symptoms develop

SYMPTOMS

  • Fever
  • Headache
  • Muscle aches
  • Tiredness
  • Loss of appetite
  • Swollen and tender salivary glands under the ears on on or both sides
  • Typically appear 16 to 18 days after infection, but can range from 12 to 25 days after
  • Some people have very mild or no symptoms

COMPLICATIONS

  • Most people recover completely in a few weeks
  • Inflammation of testicles, brain, tissue covering brain and spinal cord, breasts and/or ovaries
  • Deafness

VACCINATION

  • Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine
  • Children are vaccinated twice - at 12 to 15 months and again at age four through six
  • Two doses of the MMR vaccine are 88 percent effective. One is 78 percent.
  • Students at post-high school institutions like college, who don't have evidence of immunity, need two doses of the MMR vaccine at least 28 days apart
  • People born during or after 1957, who don't have evidence of immunity, should get least one dose of the MMR vaccine
  • People born before 1957 do not need to be vaccinated

PREVENTION

  • Wash hands frequently
  • Cover your cough and/or sneeze
  • If you experience symptoms, call your doctor
  • If you are infected, stay home and away from others

The Indiana State Department of Health has set up a mumps hotline. The number is (877) 826-0011

PREVIOUS |Mumps: What you need to know  | Mumps case confirmed at IUPUI | Nine cases of mumps reported at Butler University