Freshers warned to get mumps jabs
This year's freshers are being warned to get mumps jabs before they come to university.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) wants to halt the rising number of mumps cases, which are being blamed on unvaccinated students mixing at university. Young people are particularly vulnerable to the disease, and students even more so because they mix with many other young people in confined spaces like halls of residence and nightclubs.
People born before 1988 were not routinely given the MMR vaccination, which gives protection against mumps. They are being urged by universities, students' unions and the HPA to check whether or not they have been vaccinated before leaving for university, and if not to get the jab as soon as they can.
Last year there were outbreaks at several universities, and there is now nine times the number of cases there were in 2003. Consequences of the disease can include infertility, meningitis and deafness.
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