6 Mumps Cases Confirmed, Linked To People At A-Basin Ski Area
SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)- Summit County Public Health investigators are looking into a cluster of six confirmed mumps virus cases. The cases are all associated to people at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area.
Investigators are broadening their surveillance area for the possibility of more mumps cases.
The confirmed cases are all employees or people associated with those employees. There are no known skiers or boarders confirmed in the mumps cases.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Mumps is best known for the puffy cheeks and tender, swollen jaw that it causes. This is a result of swollen salivary glands under the ears on one or both sides, often referred to as parotitis.
Other symptoms that might begin a few days before parotitis include:
Fever
Headache
Muscle aches
Tiredness
Loss of appetite
Symptoms typically appear 16-18 days after infection, but this period can range from 12–25 days after infection.
Some people who get mumps have very mild symptoms (like a cold), or no symptoms at all and may not know they have the disease.
Local health officials say there could be more cases that have not been confirmed. They are reminding people the importance of being vaccinated.
"The risk to the public is minimal, but people need to vaccinate against this," one health official said to CBS4.
The first case was discovered at the end of April and that person was hospitalized.
Additional Information from the CDC:
Mumps can be prevented with MMR vaccine. This protects against three diseases: measles, mumps, and rubella. CDC recommends that children get two doses of MMR vaccine:
- the first dose at 12 through 15 months of age, and
- the second dose at 4 through 6 years of age.
Teens and adults should also be up to date on MMR vaccinations.
MMR vaccine is safe and effective. A person with two doses of MMR vaccine has about an 88% reduction in risk for mumps; a person with one dose has a 78% reduction in risk for mumps.
Children may also get MMRV vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (chickenpox). This vaccine is only licensed for use in children who are 12 months through 12 years of age.
