4-17-14 UPDATE: Two additional cases of mumps have been reported on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, according to a Thursday Madison.com article.
University Health Services reminded students Tuesday to take steps to stay healthy and prevent spreading the illness. UHS is working with public health officials to monitor the situation.
We will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.
4-3-14 ORIGINAL: University Health Services is encouraging students and staff to take preventative measures after three University of Wisconsin-Madison students were diagnosed with mumps, according to Gerald Ryan, UHS director of medical services.
Two of the three individuals were diagnosed at their homes over spring break but were exposed while on campus, according to Ryan.
Mumps is a viral infection similar to the flu with relatively mild symptoms. Symptoms include fever, sore throat and enlarged salivary glands, unique to mumps. According to Ryan, students can determine if they have mumps by feeling for inflamed parotid glands, located just in front of the ears.
While UHS hasn’t heard much about cases in the city of Madison, it is historically more common for outbreaks to occur on university campuses.
Ryan said this is a typical time of the year for outbreaks, as evidenced by the 116 confirmed cases reported Tuesday in Ohio, 93 of which occurred at Ohio State University.
“The situation at universities is basically ideal for people to have infectious diseases that are more easily transmitted because you have large numbers of people who are confined into small spaces,” Ryan said.
UHS hopes the weather will soon improve so students can get outside and distance themselves from each other, according to Ryan.
“Unfortunately, the weather isn’t cooperating, and it’s keeping everybody inside,” Ryan added.
Even people immunized as children against viral illnesses such as mumps are not completely immune. People in their late teens and early 20s are particularly susceptible, partially because they are in dense areas, according to Ryan. However, immunized individuals appear to get less sick than others.
“This is the reason why [UHS] talk[s] so much about the importance of having your immunizations up to date,” Ryan said.
Ryan reminds students to wash their hands frequently, cough into their elbows and not share beverages or food in order to prevent spreading or contracting the illness. There is no specific treatment for mumps.
If you suspect you have mumps, isolate yourself as much as possible for five days after first becoming ill.
