CDC report: Mumps cases rising in vaccinated children

This Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015, file photo, shows boxes of the measles, mumps and rubella virus vaccine (MMR) and measles, mumps, rubella and varicella vaccine inside a freezer at a doctor’s office in Northridge, Calif. | Damian Dovarganes, File, Associated Press

Mumps cases are rising, even with the two MMR vaccination doses

Mump infections continue to spread in the U.S., largely among vaccinated people, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This contagious disease is a viral infection that affects the saliva-producing glands located near the ears.

Per NBC News, cases of mumps declined more than 99% in the U.S. after vaccines were developed in 1967.

• In 2003, there were only 231 cases compared to 152,000 in 1968.
• But cases started rising in 2006 when the numbers reached 6,584, most of them in vaccinated people.
• One-third of the cases from 2007 to 2019 were reported in children and adolescents.
• In fact, 94% of the people who contracted mumps were vaccinated.

Mariel Marlow, an epidemiologist at the CDC who led the new study, said mumps aware once not common.

“Before that, large outbreaks of mumps among people who were fully vaccinated were not common, including among vaccinated children,” per NBC News.

“But the disease symptoms are usually milder and complications are less frequent in vaccinated people.”

Per the report, an infected person can spread the disease by coughing, sneezing, talking, sharing drinks or any other close contact activity.

According to Newsweek, despite growing cases, over half of the doctors who responded to a 2020 survey of U.S. pediatricians said they rarely test for mumps if the child is fully vaccinated, even if they are showing symptoms of the virus.

Doctors are now advised to take this infection into consideration, regardless of the vaccination status, per the report.

CDC report: Mumps cases rising in vaccinated children
Source: Gabriella Pinoys