What
should I do if I plan to travel
to a place affected by
a mumps outbreak, for example,
to attend a college graduation?
Although
the risk of exposure to mumps
for most travelers will be relatively
low, you should make sure that you
are fully vaccinated. This
is especially important if you
plan to attend graduations or other
events in states experiencing mumps
outbreaks. In this
year's outbreak, most cases are
among persons aged 18-24 years;
some colleges in the outbreak affected
areas are experiencing outbreaks. UPDATED
November 6
Here is what it takes to be fully vaccinated
or immune:
- All children
12 months to 4 years of age should have had 1 dose of MMR vaccine
- All school-aged children (K-12)
and students attending post-high school educational institutions
should have had 2 doses of vaccine
- Adults
who live in or travel to an
outbreak affected area should
have at least 2 doses, UPDATED
November 6 unless
they were diagnosed by a doctor
with mumps earlier in life, or
have laboratory evidence of immunity
to mumps. Most
people born in the United
States before 1957 had mumps and
cannot get it again. If
you don’t know if you had
vaccine or mumps in the past,
it is safe to get the vaccine. Particularly
for adults who plan to attend
a large gathering in a state with
many mumps cases, vaccination
with a two doses of MMR should
be considered. You can
contact the state health department
for more specific information.
The measles/mumps/rubella vaccine, or
MMR, is widely available and is preferred over mumps-only vaccine,
which is not widely available.
It
takes about 2 weeks after vaccination
before your body develops immunity
to mumps. If you must travel to
an affected area before you have
immunity from vaccine, wash your
hands frequently, do not share
eating utensils or beverage containers,
and avoid other sources of saliva
from another person, such as from
a person who is sneezing or coughing.
One
dose of vaccine protects about 80%
of the people who receive it.
Two doses protect about 90%. Watch
yourself carefully for signs
of mumps (fever, headache, muscle
aches, tiredness, and loss of appetite,
followed by swelling of salivary
glands). The parotid salivary
glands (which are located within
your cheek, near your jaw line,
below your ears) are most often
the ones that swell. See
your healthcare provider if
you develop these symptoms.
Can
mumps be spread on airplanes?
There
may be some risk of getting sick
from illnesses, such as mumps, during
air travel that can be spread by
mucus or droplets from the nose
or throat of an infected person,
usually when a person coughs or
sneezes. The current outbreak investigation
has identified people who may have
been traveling while infectious with
mumps. The risk
of mumps transmission on an airplane
is probably low.
Beginning
October 2006, no further contact
tracing of mumps will be conducted
on flights less than 5 hours long
by any federal agency. However,
states may choose to investigate
shorter flights on their own if
they wish to be more conservative. UPDATED
November 6
What
can I do to protect myself from infection
during air travel?
The
most effective tool for preventing
mumps is to be vaccinated with MMR
vaccine (see the Mumps
Vaccine Information Statement) unless you have other
evidence of immunity to mumps. Another
important thing travelers
can do to keep from getting sick
is to wash their
hands often and well with soap and
water. Frequent handwashing (see An
Ounce of Prevention page for more
information on handwashing) washes
away germs that may have been picked
up from other people or from contaminated
surfaces. If soap and water are not
available, use an alcohol-based hand
gel (with at least 60% alcohol).
Travelers
who are sick can help prevent the
spread of infection by not flying
while they are ill. If travel is
unavoidable, ill travelers should
use tissues to cover their coughs
and sneezes, wash their hands often,
and avoid close contact with others.
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