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You may have heard about a viral outbreak in the NHL.
Over the past few weeks, several players have been diagnosed with mumps. You heard that right. Mumps.
The mumps virus basically disappeared after the vaccine was developed. But it’s been popping up in recent years. The NHL outbreak raises questions about how it can creep back into society. one of the reasons may make you want to check your vaccination records.
When NHL’er Corey Perry came down with mumps, he was about as surprised as most 20-somethings would be.
Corey Perry: “I really didn’t even know what it was when the doc said it.”
He’s one of a number of hockey players to be diagnosed over the past several weeks.
The main symptom is swelling of the salivary glands that results in puffy cheeks and chin. rare cases lead to enlarged testicles or ovaries.
Dr. Jessica Hopkins: “All it takes is someone who’s been in another country or comes from another country to Canada and they can spread a disease like mumps.”
People who aren’t vaccinated can contract mumps and infect other people. But sometimes, even people who have been vaccinated can get it.
Hopkins: “Sometimes if it’s been a really long time since you were vaccinated, you can have the effectiveness of the vaccine wear off. And that’s why two doses is really good because it helps people to have lifelong immunity.”
Babies get their first dose at 12 months and a second between 4 and 6 years. But between 1980 and 1996, kids only got one dose.
Anyone under 18 who hasn’t had both shots should get a second. so should people at high risk.
Hopkins: “People who travel, people who are in the military, post secondary students who live in dormitories and healthcare workers should all have two doses of vaccine.”
It’s passed on through mucus and saliva, so it can travel quickly between people who live and work in close quarters, like hockey players.
The vaccine is called the MMR, and it protects against mumps as well as measles and German measles (Rubella). Some parents chose not to vaccinate their kids after a false research paper blamed the vaccine for causing autism. The results of the study were rigged and proven untrue a few years ago. But if you’re unsure whether your child got their shots, you should check their vaccination records.
