Number of mumps cases passes century mark

By By Catherine Odson

Monday, April 24, 2006

More than 100 people in Douglas County have mumps.

The number of mumps cases in Douglas County totaled 102 on Friday, with the majority of cases occurring in people ages 19 to 26 years old, said Sheryl Tirol-Goodwin, spokeswoman for the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department. Seventy-six of those cases were University students.

The spring outbreak has provided experience dealing with infectious diseases without the potential for severe complications and fatalities. Patricia Denning, chief of staff at Watkins Memorial Health Center, said she thought that Watkins had communicated well with students, University officials and parents. However, she was frustrated by infected students’ lack of response to medical recommendations.

Students, who often felt indestructible, she said, would often disregard recommendations such as isolating themselves because their schedules were packed. But with more serious diseases — including measles and a potentially lethal pandemic flu — following those recommendations could be the difference between life and death, she said.

“Sometimes, we as adults have to put aside our personal agendas for the good of the group,” she said.

In the future, Denning said, Watkins would try to distribute clearer information to students, which might help students follow doctors’ recommendations.

Tirol-Goodwin said the county health department was handling this outbreak the same way the department had treated infectious disease outbreaks in the past. The department followed a “long-standing protocol,” she said, that immediately informed the public to keep the disease from unnecessarily spreading. She said she could not think of anything the department hadn’t done.

Mumps caused a disaster drill planned for this Wednesday at Watkins to be postponed for the fall. Denning said planning the event would have placed an additional burden on a busy staff.

— Edited by Hayley Travis

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