About a dozen students at Harvard University have been isolated following a mumps outbreak that has affected 40 members of the educational community since February. The move was done after the viral infection continued spreading in the university.
ABC News reported that the increase in the number of infected individuals was still noted even though many of them were vaccinated for mumps. Since the outbreak was disclosed last Feb. 29, the disease continued to infect individuals at Harvard.
"This is really happening in congregate settings where people are in dormitories," Cambridge Public Health Department spokesperson Susan Feinberg said. "College campuses are the perfect storm, because students are sharing all kind so things, they're in close contact and going to parties."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that mumps can be passed through saliva or mucus. ABC News also explained that people who got vaccinated for mumps may still acquire it.
Most commons symptoms of mumps are muscle pain, fever, fatigue, and swollen glands. It was added in te same report that in serious cases, it could lead to inflammation of the ovaries or meningitis.
According to CNN, Harvard University has asked its students to stop spreading the infection to others. University's health services director Paul Barreira said the school worries about the rise in the cases of mumps.
"I'm actually more concerned now than I was during any time of the outbreak," Barreira was quoted by CNN as saying. "I'm desperate to get students to take seriously that they shouldn't be infecting one another."
He explained that this outbreak could affect the upcoming commencement of the students this May 26. Barreira said that a continuous increase in the number of students infected may "seriously interrupt" the commencement exercises.
In an interview with the university's newspaper, The Crimson, the health services director said that students who tested positive for the viral illness were isolated for about five days. They were either kept inside their own homes or at the Harvard Inn where some of the students stay.
