close

What happens when a case of mumps is identified

1 min read

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, in general when a mumps case is identified the following occurs: 

— The case is interviewed and that person’s close contacts are identified.

— The the identified person is excluded from public activities until five days after the onset of parotid (a salivary gland) swelling.

— Contacts of the person are advised of the symptoms of mumps and asked to report any of these to the local health department should they occur. According to the department, post exposure vaccination or immune globulin (a medicine) are not effective at preventing mumps, so they do not recommend this. 

— If there were to be an outbreak at a school, the department would recommend accelerated MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccination, which will prevent mumps cases resulting from future exposures and would exclude unvaccinated individuals until they are vaccinated or until the outbreak is over. 

— The department might also send out information to health care providers in the area reminding them to report cases of mumps and advising them of the proper laboratory tests in order if they suspect mumps. 

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $4.79/week.

Subscribe Today