The Houston Health Department confirmed seven mumps cases at the city’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility.
Officials said that all seven people were adults who were detained during the time they became sick.”Since these individuals were isolated inside the facility during the period they were infectious, we do not anticipate these cases posing a threat to the community,” said Dr. David Persse, Houston’s local health authority and EMS medical director.”The health department says they are working with the facility on infection control methods and will conduct an on-site visit soon.
The outbreak occurs shortly after the area was hit with a measles outbreak.
The mumps outbreak coincides with a recent measles outbreak in Texas and the Bayou City, which caused alarm earlier in the week. Of the six cases of measles reported this week, five of them were in the Houston area….Infection is transmissible a week before symptoms appear. Once symptoms are gone, patients are contagious for another month.Cases of the mumps have risen over the last few years in both Texas and the United States.
People infected with the virus that causes mumps will typically have symptoms such as headaches, muscle aches, loss of appetite, fatigue. Eventually, the infected individuals will have the distinctive swollen salivary glands. Infection can typically be prevented with two doses of a mumps, measles and rubella (MMR) vaccination, which has a 97 percent effective rate.
The spike has been dramatic enough the public health experts are scrambling to determine the cause, with an eye to recommending a third vaccination.
…[In] 2016, the United States saw 6,366 cases of mumps and more than 5,500 cases in 2017, marking the biggest outbreaks of the virus in a decade. The outbreaks have notably impacted universities, grade schools, and even professional sports teams, despite high rates of coverage for the recommended 2 doses of the MMR vaccine. In a recent recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices published in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the committee called for a third dose of the MMR vaccine for individuals who have been previously vaccinated with 2 doses and are at risk of acquiring mumps due to an outbreak.
However, a more likely explanation is that the unvaccinated and infected population of illegal immigrants is meeting an unvaccinated community of Americans, who had been enjoying the benefits of herd immunity…until the herd changed.
Public health officials say these outbreaks underscore the importance of vaccination — and the real-world risks posed by the anti-vaccine movement. Almost all of those who got sick had not been vaccinated.”These outbreaks are due to the anti-vaccine movement,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, told CBSN AM.He stressed that the vaccine has been scientifically proven over many years to be safe and effective in preventing measles. However, some parents still refuse to vaccinate their kids.
The continuing stories of outbreaks and epidemics of diseases once under control in this country is inspiring a fascinating form of teen rebellion: Vaccinations.
A number of adult teenagers are deciding to share their choice to get vaccinated after their parents initially chose not to get them vaccinations as children.After 18-year-old Ethan Lindenberger’s decision to receive his first-ever vaccinations despite his parents’ wishes went viral, more reports are surfacing of other teens doing the same.
18-year olds in the Houston area may be well advised to look into the MMR vaccine.
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