PHOTO: Mumps is preventable with a vaccine. Symptoms include swollen glands, fever, muscle aches, headache and loss of appetite. Photo Courtesy of vaccineinformation.org
The city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene this week indicated that it is examining the cases of the mumps that have emerged recently in Rockaway.
“The Health Department is currently investigating three mumps cases in Far Rockaway,” a spokeswoman said. “Anyone who is ill has been asked to stay home while infectious.”
Last year, there were 120 cases of mumps in the five boroughs. Risk to the public is considered low because mumps is spread by droplets—not airborne like measles. With droplet spread, contagious people generally need to be in very close contact for longer periods of time in order to spread the infection to someone else.
Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Howard Beach) on Monday said that in phone conversations he has had with DOHMH officials, he has urged the city to collaborate with its partners at the state Department of Health to make a concerted effort to prevent the current mumps outbreak from spreading beyond the three confirmed cases in Rockaway. Goldfeder also indicated that he has reached out to state DOH to express similar concerns.
“We need to make use of our resources at every level of government to protect our families from the spread of this contagious disease,” Goldfeder said. “With the confirmed mumps cases, I urge our city and state health departments to coordinate efforts to contain this dangerous virus in Rockaway and ensure the health and safety of our families.”
Mumps symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, and loss of appetite. The virus occasionally causes complications, including inflammation of the brain and spinal cord tissues, and deafness.
The mumps cluster follows an outbreak earlier this month of Legionnaires’ disease in the Bronx, which killed 12 and sickened more than 100. City Health officials last week declared that crisis to be over.
By Michael V. Cusenza michael@theforumnewsgroup.com
