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St. Joe's vaccination policy minimizes effects and does not eliminate risks
The St. Joe's Student Health Center and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health advised students on campus to take precautionary measures following an outbreak of mumps at Temple University, nearby .
At the end of last month, just before the school holidays, Temple issued a statement that there had been four confirmed cases of mumps on campus. As of March 18, there had been 54 mumps cases in Temple – 12 confirmed cases and 42 probable cases, according to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.
Although mumps cases were rare in the years following the introduction of the mumps, measles and rubella (MMR) vaccine in 1971, an upsurge in epidemics occurred. in recent years in vaccinated individuals.
Many of these 54 people in Temple had received the MMR vaccine.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), experts do not know exactly why vaccinated people still contract mumps. They suspect that this may be due to the number of doses and the immune system not responding properly to the vaccine.
Dana Perella, who is in charge of the Acute Communicable Disease Program at the Philadelphia Ministry of Public Health, said that although the MMR vaccine had already been given, cases can still occur years after vaccination and that the disease appears frequently on university campuses.
"Mumps outbreaks can still occur and, in recent years, have been reported in contexts such as universities, where individuals have close and prolonged contact," said Perella.
Even though it is possible to contract mumps even with vaccination, the symptoms are not as severe or life-threatening if they are vaccinated. Fever, painful swelling of the salivary glands and pain in chewing or swallowing. There is currently no cure for mumps, but the immune system of those vaccinated can fight the virus within days.
Nene Okunna, Ph.D., badistant professor of interdisciplinary health services and public health specialist, said the epidemic is a public health problem resulting from people not vaccinating their children because they fear that vaccinations do not cause autism.
"The problem is that if people do not get vaccinated, these diseases spread on campus," Okunna said. "It's a problem, especially on college campuses, because we have a lot of people on campus, so if someone understands it. That's why we are so concerned about what we see in Temple. "
According to St. Eileen Bevilacqua, director of St. Joe's, all new and transferred students must receive two doses of the MMR vaccine, as well as two vaccines against chickenpox, four polio and four tetanus / diphtheria / whooping cough. with reminder the health center of the students.
This is not the case in all universities. Some schools recommend rather than requiring vaccinations.
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