Mumps Update: The mumps contagion continues unabated in the Midwest:
The number of cases has more than doubled in the past week, with at least 1,100 reported in Iowa and seven other states, officials said. Investigators in another seven states also are studying possible cases.
And as mentioned in this blog before, it's looking like it came from the land of MMR-phobia:
The outbreak, which appears to have begun in late December, involves the same strain of the virus that has caused a massive mumps epidemic in Britain over several years. Officials suspect an infected person may have brought the virus from Britain to Iowa, but officials have not yet identified the first case.
We do live in a global village these days. Hysteria in a land far across the sea has ripple effects around the world. But in this case, it's the shot not heard 'round the world.
Sure, the virions in question may have come from across the pond. And sure, they wouldn't have had a mumps outbreak had it not been for Andrew Wakefield and all the trouble he caused.
ReplyDeleteBut the majority of the young folks who got sick in the Midwest were vaccinated.
That's a troubling feature of this story that must be pursued, IMO.
best,
Flea
...unless this particular strain is dissimilar enough to the antigens used in the vaccine that fewer than 90% are protected.
ReplyDelete