Mumps may be on the rise in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced this week that mumps is circulating across the United States, and encouraged pediatricians to be vigilant in detecting and treating it.
While the percentage for mumps is still low, it’s higher than it was previously. The majority of doctors have never even seen a case of Mumps before.
Mumps, alongside other diseases, were almost completely eliminated due to childhood vaccinations. But rising anti-vax misinformation has meant that some of these previously eliminated diseases are coming back, some reports have said.
The measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine, MMR, helped to decline the prevalence of mumps by more than 99 percent since 1967, taking the case rate from 150,000 a year to about 200 in 2003. The vaccine has been a regular part of immunizations since its introduction in 1977.
However, a new report shows that there were recent outbreaks in vaccinated adolescents as well as some children. Children and teenagers who are fully vaccinated with the MMR shot made up one-third of infections over the past several years, according to a U.S. government study.
Some of the infected were college-aged, leading to speculation that it’s waning immunity that is to blame. However, with the latest study showing that some who are younger and vaccinated are getting the disease, doctors are questioning what is leading to the infections.
The CDC has said that it’s, therefore, crucial for pediatricians and doctors to keep close eyes out for mumps, no matter what the patient’s age, vaccine status, or travel has been.
In 2006 and 2016, there were two distinct peaks in mumps in the U.S. And the majority of all those infected were children with vaccines against the disease. This, the CDC said, shows that the disease may be endemic in the U.S.
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