KCTV: Study says some vaccinated for mumps are not protected
Mumps cases are on the rise across the United States, and a new study says even people who have been vaccinated may have a reason to be concerned.
KCTV talked to Dr. Todd Fristo at Saint Luke's Primary Care-Independence to see if parents should be worried.
"I don't think this is a cause for major alarm," Dr. Fristo said. "I think it's a young adult thing. If you're in the early elementary age and they've had their two MMRs, I think they're receiving excellent protection and I don't think a parent should panic or worry about that at this point."
As of July, 45 states reported mumps infections in 2019, including several cases in Kansas and Missouri.
Three years ago, the Midwest had a mumps outbreak with 378 out of 426 cases on the University of Missouri campus. In that outbreak, all of the students had been vaccinated.
Dr. Fristo says the surge could be due to the students' immunity waning, or it could be part of a newer strain of mumps doctors are seeing.
"There's a wild strain of mumps that right now is not being covered that effectively by the mumps vaccine—granted it's not really common, but it is still kind of floating around out in different communities."
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