Mumps outbreak !

Mumps outbreak sickens hundreds in Midwest
By Jia-Rui Chong
Los Angeles Times

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/14385635.htm

Federal health authorities said Wednesday that they are rushing 25,000 doses of mumps vaccine to the Midwest to control the largest mumps outbreak in 20 years.

Since the first cases were detected in Iowa in December, mumps has infected 1,165 people in at least eight Midwestern states, said Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

``We're not going to be surprised to see more cases in more states,'' she said at a news conference in Atlanta.

Officials still are collecting data from the other states, but many of the people in Iowa who have contracted mumps were 17 to 24 years old.

The relative youth of those infected could explain why there have been no deaths so far, Gerberding said. Still, 20 people have been hospitalized for more serious conditions that developed from their mumps infections, including meningitis.

I had mumps when I was 12, back in the early 60s before any vaccine. I was sick as a dog, so I know what these folks who have contracted it are going through. Just hope none develop complications.

It can lead to problems including hearing loss, meningitis and swollen testicles, which can lead to infertility.