Mumps outbreak sparks concern at Ridley High
RIDLEY TOWNSHIP >> The Ridley School District is dealing with an outbreak of mumps.
School officials confirmed five presumptive mumps case involving two teacher, two students and one student teacher who have come down with the contagious virus. At least one of the cases was reported in a Ridley High School student.
District Director of Medical and School Health Services Christina Nester sent a note home to students and families on Oct. 15 alerting them to the outbreak and warning them to take precautions, including not sharing any eating utensils, straws or other drinking containers. They also are being urged to wash their hands thoroughly and frequently.
“Exposure may have occurred in the last few weeks,” reads the letter.
Dr. George Avetian, the county’s senior medical adviser, said mumps symptoms can include fever and a headache, in addition to swollen glands.
According to the state Department of Health persons who are at highest risk of contracting the virus are those with no or incomplete immunization for mumps. But those with “very prolonged and close contact” with a case of the mump can be infected even with all of their vaccinations.
The first two vaccinations for mumps is generally administered between the ages of 12-15 months and 4 to 6 years. The state recommends getting a third vaccination for those “part of a group or population at increased risk for acquiring mumps.”
“In accordance with Pennsylvania Department of Health regulations, any attendee or staff member of a school or daycare who has mumps must be excluded from school or daycare for five days from the onset of symptoms or until swelling has resolved,” reads a state-published mumps fact sheet.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says most people can completely recover with two weeks.
The CDC reports approximately 2,400 infections from Jan. 1 to Sept. 13 this year in 47 states. Recent outbreaks across the region, including several college campuses including about 100 infection at Temple University back in April. Many of those cases have been linked to students not being vaccinated against mumps as youths.
Ridley officials stress most students have received the vaccine.