The Arkansas Department of Health is currently investigating 342 cases of the mumps, according to a Tuesday update.
The outbreak has affected 33 schools across three school districts in northwest Arkansas. ADH issued requirements for students with vaccination exemptions at schools where a student or teacher has become infected with the mumps. These children must remain out of school for at least 26 days or until the outbreak has ended.
Mumps is a highly communicable disease transmitted by person-to-person contact and is typically accompanied by initial symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, and loss of appetite, followed by swollen salivary glands.
According to the CDC, two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine are 88 percent effective at preventing the mumps.
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