N.S. Offering Some Students Mumps Vaccine to Combat Outbreak

By ALISON AULD

HALIFAX (CP) – Officials in Nova Scotia are hoping to vaccinate tens of thousands of students against the mumps following an outbreak that has infected close to 500 people in the province and has been linked to cases across the country.

Robert Strang, the province’s deputy medical officer of health, said post-secondary, Grades 11 and 12 students will be offered a vaccine against the mumps, measles and rubella in a bid to contain the highly contagious illness.

It’s estimated the unique program will cost about $1.35 million over six years and could reach up to 70,000 students in the province.

However, Strang cautioned that because the shots are voluntary, it’s likely that fewer than half of the targeted group will actually end up getting them.

“We feel a 40 per cent target is an achievable target,” he said Wednesday. “But understanding the difficulties of reaching this group, we have not gone beyond 40 per cent.”

Student groups are trying to come up with ways to inform the transient population of the need to get inoculated after dozens of people on campuses across the province fell ill with the virus earlier this year.

Amber Daley, president of the Mount St. Vincent University students’ union, said people who contracted the illness were off sick for an extended period, had to be isolated and had to play catch up before the end of the school year.

She’s planning on organizing information sessions and might use the popular social networking site Facebook to spread the word to returning students that they should get the shot.

“This is a very big deal – they need to go out and get the vaccination to ensure that they are safe,” she said. “I don’t think too many students understand the severity of the mumps.”

The outbreak began in February, mostly affecting young adults between the ages of 17 and 24 who only received one dose of the vaccine against mumps, measles and rubella as children.

Most people over 40 are naturally immune to the disease and those between 12 and 17 have likely received a second shot because a booster shot was introduced in 1996-97.

The outbreak spread across the country as university-aged students returned to their home provinces for the summer. A recent medical study found that every case of mumps in Canada this year could be traced back to Nova Scotia.

Bill Barker, president of the University of King’s College, said school officials will send e-mails out to all students to urge them to get vaccinated since the Department of Health wants people to get the shot before they start classes.

Health Promotion Minister Barry Barnet said Nova Scotia students attending post-secondary institutions outside the province will also be covered.

The incubation period for the disease is 14 to 25 days and people with symptoms are advised to isolate themselves for nine days.

Strang said Nova Scotia is at the tail end of the outbreak, but up to 20 cases a week are still being reported and there could be a flare up of the mumps as students return this fall.

The mumps can be spread through coughing, sneezing and the exchange of saliva, including kissing or sharing drinks.

Symptoms include aches, pains, fever, loss of appetite and, in extreme cases, can lead to meningitis, inflammation of the testicles or ovaries, and hearing loss.

The province’s nurses’ union criticized the government for its handling of the mumps outbreak, alleging that health-care workers weren’t protected quickly enough. They said that left emergency rooms severely understaffed because most afflicted nurses were placed in isolation.

Strang said Wednesday surgeries had to be postponed because of the staff shortages, adding that a review of the handling of the outbreak has yet to be done.