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May 22, 2007
mumps outbreak
The mumps outbreaks are confusing the experts. The outbreaks are concentrated in the Midwest. Very few involved unvaccinated people. Almost half had received the two doses of vaccine.
Overall, between 2 and 66/100,000 were affected, usually white college students. The problem, we are told, is that the case definition and reporting forms and systems differ in different states. So at the beginning of outbreaks cases were ignored, and at the peak, cases were overcounted.
How many died? Very few. How many hurt in places they wished they didn't? A few. Less than 6,330 in 2006.
Is this a reason to be immunized against mumps? If you plan to go to college in Kansas or Iowa and haven't had it and don't want it, maybe. Otherwise, what is the point?
Social iatrogenesis | By Robert Maddox | 08:19 PM