Mumps

LONDON (Reuters) - Global deaths from measles fell by 78 percent between 2000 and 2008 thanks largely to mass childhood vaccination campaigns, but experts say death rates may rise again if complacency allows immunization efforts to lag. About 164,000 died from measles in 2008 down from 733,000 in 2000, according to the U.S.-based Measles Initiative, which groups several organizations including the United Nations children's fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization. Vaccinating nearly 700 million children against measles with large-scale immunization programs and increased routine vaccination coverage, has prevented an estimated 4.3 million measles deaths in less than a decade, the group said. But ... Read Full Story

U.S. health officials say the largest U.S. outbreak of mumps in three years is occurring in New York and New Jersey. About 180 cases were identified in those two states from the time an investigation began in August through the end of October. Another 15 cases tied to the same outbreak have been reported in Canada. Three people have been hospitalized but no deaths were reported. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the outbreak was first reported at a boys camp in Sullivan County, N.Y. It may have been triggered by an 11-year-old boy from the United Kingdom, where an ongoing ... Read Full Story

U.S. health officials say the largest U.S. outbreak of mumps in three years is occurring in New York and New Jersey. About 180 cases were identified in those two states from the time an investigation began in August through the end of October. Another 15 cases tied to the same outbreak have been reported in Canada. Three people have been hospitalized but no deaths were reported. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the outbreak was first reported at a boys camp in Sullivan County, N.Y. It may have been triggered by an 11-year-old boy from the United Kingdom, where an ongoing ... Read Full Story

When was the last time you ever heard of someone getting the mumps ? While most of us can say it’s been a while (if not, never), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reporting the largest outbreak of mumps in three years . Most of these outbreaks took place in New York and New Jersey. Friendly reminder – the best way to protect kids from getting the mumps is by getting them vaccinated. The combination measles-mumps-rubella immunization helps protect kids against these illnesses, which are less common thanks to the large number of kids and people who’ve been vaccinated over the ... Read Full Story

There are two potential benefits to vaccine. One is preventive. You get the vaccine, you don’t worry about exposure to the disease. You don’t have to lie awake at night, fearing your children have been exposed to smallpox. As far as traditional and proven, vaccines are one of the oldest tools of modern medicine. In 1796 Dr. Edward Jenner published his research on smallpox prevention. Noting the common observation that milkmaids did not generally get smallpox, Jenner theorized that the pus in the blisters which milkmaids received from cowpox (a disease similar to smallpox, but much less virulent) protected the milkmaids from smallpox. He ... Read Full Story