303 Diagnosed With Mumps In NYC Suburbs

CBS ^ | Feb 6, 2010 | NA

[neverdem]

United States' Largest Outbreak In Years Ransacks Hasidic Jewish Communities In Rockland County

NEW YORK (CBS) ― More than 300 people have been diagnosed with the mumps in suburban New York as the nation's largest outbreak of the disease in years continues to spread.

A health official says a total of 303 people in the Rockland County towns of Monsey and New Square have been diagnosed with the highly infectious disease. Almost all the cases are among Orthodox or Hasidic Jews.

Investigators say the outbreak started in August 2009 at a Jewish summer camp in Sullivan County with an 11-year-old boy who brought the disease from England.

It has since spread to Jewish communities in Brooklyn, New Jersey and Orange county.

Mumps spreads through saliva, coughing and sneezing. Common symptoms are flu-like and include swelling of the salivary glands.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[luckystarmom]

I was against Perry’s call for the HPV vaccine. There is absolutely no reason a non-sexually active 12 year old needs the vaccine.

I have 13 year old twins, and even our pediatrician agrees that we can wait a while before we decide about that vaccine.

I’m not anti-vaccine. I made sure my daughters had the H1N1 vaccine and they get their seasonal flu vaccines because they are at risk for complications from the flu due to asthma and epilepsy.

However, I am always careful to read about side-effects of vaccines, especially neurological side-effects.

[Paleo Conservative]

Doesn’t getting mumps in older life increase chances of sterility...like big time?

My father's brother, who was 14 years older than my father, was infertile due to mumps he contracted at age 19. My father got the mumps from his brother, so he was just 4 when he got them.

[TNdandelion]

Oh! Same here. My sibling had the chickenpox 3times before he became fully immune to the disease. He was a jr in high school the last time he had them and he was sick as a dog.

I don't "play" around with any illnesses...even the ones many think are just a rite of passage.

[TNdandelion]

I would also be against any mandatory vaccine program, however, even non-sexully active teens are at risk of exposure through non-consensul sexual contact. As much as I would love to keep my daughters within arms reach at all times, sadly, they do have to attend school, church and other functions. I might even let them date before I die. Sadly, girls and women are one of the biggest risk groups for rape, date rape and sexual assault and that can happen anywhere. :(

[scott7278]

Bill Clinton feels their pain...

[Shery]

I would not call Scientologists, nor many of the others I know who do not vaccinate their children, conservatives! Maybe you read about a few who are, but as a school nurse, most of the people who refuse vaccinationa are NOT conservatives. They vote for ‘parties’ most of us would avoid.

[tiki]

I almost died of the measles and the chicken pox was miserable. I never had the mumps even though I was exposed as an adult so I could actually still get them.

[hennie pennie]

*ping*

[Nachum]

We are all concerned. The kids got the vaccines, but it still gives you pause.

[hennie pennie]

I wonder if the mumps brought back from England represent some type of mutation -- OR, if perhaps the vaccine the children received was inactive, or in some way simply no good.

How horrifying for the community.....

Do you happen to know if the kids are fully recovering, with no ill aftereffects?

[Nachum]

I have not heard of any complications, so it does not seem like a mutation. Vaccines shots can be missed, or perhaps don’t work for everyone. I got the measles when I was 18. The vaccine wore off. Not fun.

[hennie pennie]

My vaccination wore off too, and I had a very mild case around age 25.

[aruanan]

I have not heard of any complications, so it does not seem like a mutation. Vaccines shots can be missed, or perhaps don’t work for everyone. I got the measles when I was 18. The vaccine wore off. Not fun.

I know someone who got mumps here in the United States as a child and then got them again in Brazil at about the same time I and a missionary couple got them. We think we were exposed at the Pan American Christian Academy Fourth of July celebration. That's the only time we were all together.

[Nachum]

I heard that it is harder to contract the mumps at older ages. Not sure if it is true.

[Nachum]

The Vaccine might not have worked against the strain she contracted. He shouldn’t beat himself up too bad.

[neverdem]

Comment# 19 has a link about Gardasil. hocndoc has a very informative comment about Gardasil on that thread.

Big Blue demos 100GHz chip

The battery's dead: Scientists invent wafer-thin plastic that can store electricity

Inhibiting serotonin in gut could cure osteoporosis

FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.

[jacquej]

Me too, Donna, and I had both forms of measles back then. In fact, I came down with the regular measles right after getting over the mumps.

Most children recovered nicely from these childhood diseases.

[SunkenCiv]

Didn’t the Mumps invade Spain in the 8th century?

[Clemenza]

A health official says a total of 303 people in the Rockland County towns of Monsey and New Square have been diagnosed with the highly infectious disease. Almost all the cases are among Orthodox or Hasidic Jews. Inbred, er, insular religious communities who are conquering Rockland County (not that there's anything wrong with it, as long as they keep their theocracy within the Eruv). These folks are often opposed to vaccination, so it doesn't surprise me that they have this problem.