Temple University health officials notified the university of three students who have been diagnosed with the mumps.
The news may have been a shocker to some since the mumps hasn’t been on high alert since last spring of 2019,
In 2019, there were 186 confirmed cases of the mumps on students on the university’s campus including two faculty members.
Mark Denys, is the Senior Director of Health Services at Temple University. He says there have been close to 4,000 cases of the mumps a year, therefore, the cases will not disappear.
“I think it’s something that just trends in infectious disease. We’re going to be seeing more mumps on an annual basis, not just here at Temple, but other places as well.”
Due to about 7,000 people receiving the mumps vaccine last year for prevention, the university has made the vaccine a permanent requirement for immunization and all students are to submit their immunization or immunization waiver by March 1st.
“It’s really about us trying again to increase the awareness, collect the information to help us with the investigation so that if we do have another larger outbreak, we can target folks who may have chosen not to get the vaccine for one reason or another.”
Denys says the main concern should not be about the mumps as it should be towards the flu.
“Between October and now we typically see over 3,000 students with influenza-like illness.”
Denys says to keep yourself healthy this season and over the upcoming spring break, you should practice health precautions such as washing your hands and coughing in your elbow instead of your hands.
Denys also says the health officials will notify the university if the mumps grows into a concern.
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