• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Winter Visitors, Vacationers to the Midwest Should Be Updated on Mumps Vaccine

Posted on: Monday, 15 May 2006, 15:08 CDT

By The Bradenton Herald, Fla.

May 15--The Florida Department of Health today is advising all Floridians, who may be going to their summer homes in the Midwest or traveling to the Midwest on vacation, to be certain they are fully vaccinated with measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.

"We encourage everyone to know the status of their vaccinations in order to ensure safety and resistance against many diseases, including mumps," said department Secretary M. Rony François, a medical doctor and Ph.D, in a news release. "Proper routine vaccinations help protect individuals and raise their levels of immunity. While vaccines are not 100 percent effective, they do offer the highest form of protection against harmful infections and diseases."

Although the risk of exposure to mumps for most travelers will be relatively low, travelers should make sure that they are fully vaccinated.This is especially important if one plans to attend graduations or other events in the Midwest where an on-going outbreak of mumps is occurring.

Travelers may wish to contact schools prior to travel and, if mumps cases have been documented, they should consider obtaining a dose of MMR vaccine if they have not already received two doses, the department said.

-----

Copyright (c) 2006, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Bradenton Herald (Bradenton, Fla.)

More News in this Category