Midwest mumps outbreak

In the largest mumps outbreak in the U.S. in more than 20 years, almost 1,000 people have contracted the disease in the Midwest since last December, according to a Center for Disease Control announcement that was reported in The New York Times.

No one has died from the disease, but 20 have been hospitalized.

The epidemic began in Iowa, where 815 suspected cases have been reported and it has spread to seven other states.

About half the cases in Iowa involve college students, most of whom have been vaccinated. The vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella has an 80 percent efficacy rate for those inoculated with one dose and 90 percent for two doses. Dr. Julie Gerberding of the CDC attributes the outbreak to victims who have only received one dose “coupled with people who have received the vaccine but are susceptible anyway, living in crowded conditions like college dormitories and setting up a cascade of transmission that’s going to take awhile to curtail.”

The CDC is providing an additional 50,000 doses of the vaccine and the Iowa Public Health Department is trying to contain the outbreak through public education and inoculation.