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Source: http://www.londontopic.ca/article.php?artid=10906
Student case of mumps prompts free vaccine clinics at Fanshawe
LondonTopic.ca
09/22/2008
A student at Fanshawe College found to have the mumps is prompting the Middlesex-London Health Unit and the college to join together in offering free vaccine clinics at the school this week.
The MLHU and Fanshawe will be offering free measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine at two clinics at the school.
The decision to offer the vaccine to students and staff was made after a student who attends the college developed a case of mumps, said MLHU officials.
"Our primary goal in providing the vaccine is to prevent a mumps outbreak at Fanshawe College," said Dr. Bryna Warshawsky, MLHU Associated Medical Officer of Health. "We are offering these clinics as a precaution because we have seen outbreaks at other post-secondary institutions and they have the potential to make a lot of people ill."
In the last few years, several mumps outbreaks have occurred at universities and colleges in Canada. In 2007, a large outbreak in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick made more than 550 people sick. Of those who became ill, 64 percent were between the ages of 17 and 37 and many were college and university students. A similar outbreak also occurred last year in Alberta, where students at the University of Lethbridge and Lethbridge College were among the 279 people in the Chinook Health Region who contracted mumps.
As part of its effort to avert a potential local outbreak, the MLHU is providing free immunizations to those born in or after 1970 who have not received two doses of the MMR vaccine or who are unsure of their vaccination history. Those born prior to 1970 are assumed to be immune to mumps.
Mumps is a virus that can cause fever, headaches, muscle aches and fatigue, followed by swelling and pain in one or more salivary glands (usually at the sides of the cheeks, near the angle of the jaw). Most people recover from their illness but the infection can result in complications that include infections of the brain, the lining of the brain (meningitis), the ovaries, breasts or pancreas. Deafness can be a rare complication.
One in three men infected with mumps, develops an infection in their testicles, and although very rare, these infections can result in infertility. Pregnant women who get mumps during the first trimester are also at increased risk of miscarriage.
The free MMR clinics will be held in the J-Gym (small) at Fanshawe College, London Main Campus, on Wednesday, September 24 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Friday, September 26, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. No OHIP card is required.
Student case of mumps prompts free vaccine clinics at Fanshawe
LondonTopic.ca
09/22/2008
A student at Fanshawe College found to have the mumps is prompting the Middlesex-London Health Unit and the college to join together in offering free vaccine clinics at the school this week.
The MLHU and Fanshawe will be offering free measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine at two clinics at the school.
The decision to offer the vaccine to students and staff was made after a student who attends the college developed a case of mumps, said MLHU officials.
"Our primary goal in providing the vaccine is to prevent a mumps outbreak at Fanshawe College," said Dr. Bryna Warshawsky, MLHU Associated Medical Officer of Health. "We are offering these clinics as a precaution because we have seen outbreaks at other post-secondary institutions and they have the potential to make a lot of people ill."
In the last few years, several mumps outbreaks have occurred at universities and colleges in Canada. In 2007, a large outbreak in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick made more than 550 people sick. Of those who became ill, 64 percent were between the ages of 17 and 37 and many were college and university students. A similar outbreak also occurred last year in Alberta, where students at the University of Lethbridge and Lethbridge College were among the 279 people in the Chinook Health Region who contracted mumps.
As part of its effort to avert a potential local outbreak, the MLHU is providing free immunizations to those born in or after 1970 who have not received two doses of the MMR vaccine or who are unsure of their vaccination history. Those born prior to 1970 are assumed to be immune to mumps.
Mumps is a virus that can cause fever, headaches, muscle aches and fatigue, followed by swelling and pain in one or more salivary glands (usually at the sides of the cheeks, near the angle of the jaw). Most people recover from their illness but the infection can result in complications that include infections of the brain, the lining of the brain (meningitis), the ovaries, breasts or pancreas. Deafness can be a rare complication.
One in three men infected with mumps, develops an infection in their testicles, and although very rare, these infections can result in infertility. Pregnant women who get mumps during the first trimester are also at increased risk of miscarriage.
The free MMR clinics will be held in the J-Gym (small) at Fanshawe College, London Main Campus, on Wednesday, September 24 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Friday, September 26, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. No OHIP card is required.