Mumps Breaks out at Northeastern University

A suspected outbreak of mumps at Northeastern University has forced at least nine students to seek medical attention.

Each student has demonstrated various symptoms of the illness, which include headaches, muscle pain, vomiting, and the swelling of salivary glands that leave some victims resembling chipmunks.

While one student has been hospitalized, Northeastern has asked that the remaining infected students stay away from large crowds and, if possible, remain in their dormitories, according to an article in the Boston Globe.

“[University Health and Counseling Services] is working closely with state and city public health officials to make sure members of the community are informed and safe,” Northeastern wrote in a statement released on Friday.

Northeastern has also asked students to notify potential guests for its looming commencement services in less than two weeks, a move that could suggest that the epidemic is far from being controlled.

Despite the outbreak across the river, epidemic specialists at Harvard’s University Health Services say they are comfortable that its current health policies will prevent an infection at Harvard.

“Anyone who goes to school here must be vaccinated,” said UHS Infection Control Surveillance Nurse Susan Fitzgerald. “We get documentation from everyone who starts school—you can’t register without it.”

According to the Boston Globe, officials at Northeastern say that “99 percent” of its students have also received the required vaccination as mandated by Massachusetts law. The University is offering free shots to the remaining one percent on campus.

However, immunization does not guarantee an epidemic-free community.

Soheyla Gharib, chief of medicine at UHS, said that Northeastern became infected when two previously-vaccinated students returned from a spring break vacation in Ireland, where cases of mumps have hit a record high for the country.

Boston Public Health officials maintain that even with proper immunization, there is still a 10-20 percent chance of infection.

“The probability that [students] in the community will be infected is very low,” Gharib said. “We’re not worried about this touching off a rash of mumps.”