HILO, Hawaii (AP) - The state Department of Health has tracked the mumps outbreak to Hawaii County.
Health officials announced Friday that they have confirmed the first case of mumps on the Big Island.
The case happened in east Hawaii Island, District Health Officer Aaron Ueno told West Hawaii Today (https://bit.ly/2tf0hTX). He was unable to be more specific.
Fourteen new mump cases have been confirmed on Oahu and Kauai. As of Friday, the number of mumps cases statewide reached 133, the department said.
People infected with mumps are urged to stay home and maintain a distance from others to prevent spreading the infection. State law requires people with mumps to avoid school, work or travel for nine days after salivary glands begin to swell.
Other mumps symptoms include fever, headaches, muscle aches, tiredness and loss of appetite.
“If you are sick, even if you don’t know what you have, stay away from work,” Ueno said. “Stay home.”
Children typically get their first dose of the measles-mumps-rubella, or MMR, vaccine between the ages of 1 and 15. Ueno said, however, that even people who have one dose of the vaccine have been among those infected. The symptoms for those with the first dose of the vaccines have been less severe compared with those without, he said.
The department is recommending children between 1 and 4 get a second dose.
A single dose provides people with 70 percent immunity against mumps. A second dose would give people 80 percent immunity.
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Information from: West Hawaii Today, https://www.westhawaiitoday.com
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