Mumps Appears In 2 University Place Schools

UNIVERSITY PLACE, WA - Students in two University Place schools have contracted mumps in the midst of a larger outbreak in Washington state, and the school district will exclude more than 60 under-vaccinated students from school to prevent the virus from spreading.

The cases were discovered in one student each from Curtis High School and Curtis Junior High School, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. Health officials say the students are being kept away from school, and that the students contracted mumps outside of school.

“Three months after our first cases, mumps continues to infect more people in Pierce County and across the region,” Nigel Turner, communicable disease division director at Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, said in a release. “Public health is essential to ensure higher immunization rates and to limit the spread of disease to more people."

There are around 550 cases of mumps in the state, according to the Washington State Department of Health. The outbreak emerged in late 2016 in the Auburn area in King County and has spread steadily. There are 211 cases in King County and 55 total in Pierce County.

The health department is asking the University Place School District to exclude 65 under-vaccinated students from each school. There are 35 at Curtis High and 30 at Curtis Junior High, the health department said. The exclusion will begin March 20.

Mumps can cause fever, headache, and loss of appetite, among other symptoms; but a hallmark of the disease is swelling around the face and neck and in glands. However, not everyone experiences those symptoms. The MMR vaccine is about 88 percent effective at preventing mumps.

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