The Onondaga County Health Department is working with Syracuse University (SU) and the New York State Department of Health in planning clinics to offer a booster dose of the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) shot to SU student-athletes and undergraduate students. The clinics will begin operating on Tuesday, October 24, 2017 on the SU campus.

Onondaga County Health Commissioner, Dr. Indu Gupta, explains that the mumps outbreak is still spreading, mainly on the SU campus. The students most affected are undergraduate students on sports teams, their roommates, friends, and close contacts. At this point there are 27 confirmed cases and 45 probable cases that involve members of the SU campus community. There are also two probable cases in the community; one with a known link to SU, and one with no known link to SU.

The booster doses may help bring the outbreak to an earlier end, but the main effort to control the spread of mumps is to provide continuous education to students on the following prevention measures:
Be sure that you are fully vaccinated against vaccine-preventable diseases including mumps

• If you have a fever and swollen salivary glands under the ears on one or both sides or in other salivary glands, seek medical care immediately and stay out of work, school, and social activities for five days
• Avoid risky behaviors such as kissing and sharing drinks and eating utensils
• Wash hands frequently, cover your cough, and stay home if you are sick
• If you are a close contact of a person diagnosed with mumps, watch yourself for symptoms for 25 days

Other symptoms of mumps include headache, muscle aches, tiredness, loss of appetite, testicular or abdominal pain. For more information about the mumps outbreak at SU, please visit their website at health.syr.edu/health-tips/mumps-vaccinations.html or call SU Health Services at 315-443-9005.

For information about mumps and for the latest county-wide case counts, please visit the Health Department website at www.ongov.net/health/mumps.html.