King County Mumps Outbreak Grows to 22

SEATTLE, WA - King County Public Health said Friday afternoon that the number of mumps cases in the county has grown from nine to 22 since Wednesday. Of those 22 cases, five are confirmed and 17 are probable.

Health officials are warning anyone with mumps symptoms to stay away from others, and they are urging everyone to get vaccinated.

The county said that all of the cases are in Auburn, and 15 of the cases are in children ages 5 to 17. When the county reported the initial outbreak earlier this week, all of the mumps cases were confined to a single family.

The MMR vaccine is about 88 percent effective, King County Health Officer Dr. Jeffrey Duchin has said. Even still, everyone should get the vaccine, he said

"Because some people do not respond to the vaccine and mumps spreads easily from person to person, outbreaks can still occur in vaccinated populations. But, if unvaccinated, many, many, more people would become ill," Duchin said in a statement Friday.

You can learn more about the outbreak from King County here.

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