The Israeli Health Ministry has announced that since September there have been 105 cases of mumps, primarily in Jerusalem.
This compares with only 13 cases in the whole of 2008 and 7 in 2007.
The director of the Public Health Services believes the increase in the number of cases stems from the fact that the mumps inoculation was added to the national vaccination program only in 1988, along with measles and rubella. The mumps vaccine is given to children in 2 doses -- at the age of 1 year and in 1st grade.
The outbreak is believed to have occurred among those who didn't get both doses. Many of the patients are from communities that refuse to be vaccinated, especially the ultra-orthodox.
Mumps has also spiked in the United States and Canada in 2009.
Mumps is an acute viral disease characterized by fever, and swelling and tenderness of one or more salivary glands. Complications to mumps may include; orchitis (which has been reported to be a risk factor for testicular cancer), encephalitis and spontaneous abortion. Sterility in males is a rare possible outcome.
The virus is transmitted person to person via airborne and droplet spread. Maximum infectiousness occurs between two days prior to onset of illness to four days afterwards.
The Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine is the method of prevention (approximately 90% effective). This vaccine should be given in two doses at 12-15 months and the second at 4-6 years. Some adults should get one dose of the vaccine if they were born after 1956 and have no record of having the diseases or vaccinations.
See more on the MMR vaccine here
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