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Midwestern U.S. Fights a Mumps Outbreak
Written by Cynthia Kirk
02 May 2006
I’m Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Health Report.
States in the American Midwest are working to
contain an outbreak of the mumps virus. Health
workers are vaccinating college students and others
who live or work close together.
Mumps used to be common in the United States in
babies, children and young adults. In nineteen sixty-
seven, researchers developed a vaccine to prevent it.
Mumps is usually not serious. There is a risk,
however, that it can lead to problems like infection of
the brain and hearing loss. In women it can cause
failed pregnancies; in men it can cause testicular
damage.
Iowa is the state most affected by the outbreak.
Since December, Iowa has reported more than one
thousand cases of mumps, either confirmed or
suspected. Health officials say young adults
eighteen to twenty-five years old have had the
highest number of cases in Iowa.
This is the largest mumps outbreak in America in
years. The United States has had an average of
fewer than three hundred cases yearly since two
thousand one.
Mumps generally causes high body temperature, headaches, muscle pain and tiredness. It
also causes painful swelling of salivary glands near the jaw line, especially below the
ears.
People with mumps are sick generally for about a week or so. Many people get mild
cases. Some infected people never even get sick.