Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau is experiencing an outbreak of the mumps that has sickened 29 people since February, according to a report from the Southeast Missourian.
The majority of infections have occurred in students associated with fraternities and sororities. On Tuesday, the Cape Girardeau Public Health Center and the Campus Health Clinic held a mumps, measles and rubella vaccination clinic on campus for students associated with Greek organizations. More than 580 students were vaccinated, according to the report.
Despite the vaccination clinic and the fact that students will be leaving campus next week for spring break, Bruce Skinner, assistant vice president for student success, told the Southeast Missourian he does not expect the outbreak end soon.
"We are going to continue to work through the cases of mumps for the whole semester," said Mr. Skinner. "We don't expect spring break to fix this."
The mumps are spread via person-to-person contact and cause swelling of the salivary glands, fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness and loss of appetite.
To learn about the mumps, click here.
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