On Wednesday, the Arkansas Department of Health increased its mumps outbreak case count to 582. The count includes both laboratory confirmed cases and cases currently under investigation. On Oct. 11, the count was 476.
The outbreak has affected more than 30 schools in the northwest region of the state. The health department is requiring students with exemptions for the mumps, measles and rubella vaccine at schools where a student or teacher has become infected with the mumps to remain out of school for at least 26 days or until the outbreak ends.
The mumps are best known for painful, swollen salivary glands that cause puffy cheeks and swollen jaw. There is no treatment for the mumps and symptoms usually resolve in a few weeks. While the disease is typically mild in children, the mumps can be more severe in adults.
According to the CDC, two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine are 88 percent effective at preventing the mumps.
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