The number of mumps cases in Monroe County has risen to 64, according to a release from the Monroe County Health Department, and is continuing to grow.
The Monroe County Health Department sent out a press release Wednesday warning local residents to be wary of mumps symptoms, since the normally mild illness does have the potential to complicate and breed more serious infection.
“Even though classes have dismissed for the summer, transmission of mumps continues to rise,” said Penny Caudill, the administrator of the Monroe County Health Department, in the release.
The Health Department encourages anyone with mumps-like symptoms to seek treatment, even if they’ve previously received a mumps vaccine.
Symptoms of the illness can include fever, headache, fatigue, muscle aches and loss of appetite, among other things, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms will likely show themselves around two weeks after infection, according to the Health Department’s release, though that number can range from between 12 and 25 days.
Mumps is spread through sneezing, coughing and salivary contact, according to the release. If a person has received the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, their risk of infection is relatively low, although, according to the Health Department, the best way to prevent the infection entirely is two doses of the MMR vaccine. The risk of developing mumps after these two vaccinations is low — 12 percent — but not entirely erased.
The Monroe County Health Department warns citizens in its release to abstain from sharing food and drink, practice good hygiene and be vigilant of possible mild mumps symptoms. Sharing items that come into any contact with the mouth, including toothbrushes and vape pens, increases the risk of developing the illness, according to the release.
The Health Department encourages in its release all citizens to seek medical treatment at any sign of the mumps and to take the above precautions to avoid the number of cases rising in Monroe County.
Anicka Slachta
