College rules may ease mumps outbreak in state

CHICAGO - Requirements that college students receive vaccinations for mumps may be protecting Illinois from an outbreak on the scale of neighboring Iowa, which has reported 975 cases, Illinois health department director said Friday. Unlike Iowa, Illinois - which has 123 mumps cases - requires college students to have received shots for prevention of measles, mumps and rubella. That requirement, in place since 1988, adds to the state's &#8220herd immunity,” meaning vaccinated people form a barrier protecting others from the virus, said Dr. Eric Whitaker, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. &#8220Most of our population is fairly well covered,” he said. Because of adequate immunity, he said, the state will not seek any of the 50,000 doses of vaccine that the federal government and vaccine maker Merck have pledged to the Midwest. The number of mumps cases in Illinois continues to climb by about 11 new cases per day, he said. The state has 66 confirmed and 57 suspected cases. Iowa Department of Public Health spokesman Kevin Teale said that state has required the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine for schoolchildren since 1991, but does not require it for college admission. However, the state's top three state colleges - University of Iowa, Iowa State University and University of Northern Iowa - do require it, and have had very few cases, Teale said. Next week, Iowa will target 18- to 22-year-olds in mass mumps immunization clinics, dividing 25,000 vaccine doses among counties with colleges, universities and post-secondary institutions, where students are especially vulnerable. Whitaker said Illinois' experience shows vaccination works as a public health strategy. He noted that some parents who question the safety of vaccination have been skeptical. &#8220I've been faced since I've been in this job with a lot of parents who've been concerned about vaccinations and have tried to opt out of vaccinations,” he said. &#8220Trying to explain a concept like herd immunity is tough. But we, through mandate and the schools, have been fairly successful in making sure most of our population is covered by vaccinations, despite the efforts of some to try to get rid of those mandates.” A mumps vaccine was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1967 and has a good safety record. But it has known side effects such as swelling, fever and a rash. The state allows exemptions from vaccination for medical and religious reasons. School districts and colleges routinely report mumps vaccination levels of 90 percent, according to Kimberly Parker, Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman. Mumps can spread through coughing and sneezing. Symptoms include fever, headache and swollen glands under the jaw. It can lead to problems including hearing loss, meningitis and swollen testicles, which can lead to infertility. It does not respond to antibiotics.