Mumps Outbreak in a Highly Vaccinated University-Affiliated Setting Before and After a Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccination Campaign—Iowa, July 2015–May 2016

Abstract

Following a large additional dose MMR vaccination campaign, fewer mumps cases occurred overall and in the target population.

Speed and strength of an epidemic intervention

“…For interventions, we expect the speed-based framework to be clearer for evaluating intervention strategies that work at the individual level, like test-and-treat for HIV (Granich et al, 2009), or contact-tracing and quarantine for COVID-19 (Hellewell et al, 2020); we expect the strength-based framework to be clearer for intervention strategies that seek to reduce the overall transmission at the population level, like condom use. In other cases, such as real-time rollout of vaccines during an outbreak, both speed and strength approaches might be similarly uncertain because the result depends both on the speed of the rollout and the (strength-like) final coverage (Shah et al, 2018).…”

Cost of Public Health Response and Outbreak Control With a Third Dose of Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine During a University Mumps Outbreak—Iowa, 2015–2016

“…These criteria included settings with high (>90%) 2-dose coverage, intense exposure with high attack rates (>5/1000), and ongoing transmission (>2 weeks). Whereas a more limited third-dose approach was initially implemented at 1 fraternity, as the outbreak continued, the decision was made to hold a university-wide third-dose campaign [17]. During the campaign, >4700 doses of MMR vaccine were administered, for an uptake of 25% among eligible students.…”

“…In summer and fall of 2015, a large mumps outbreak was reported at the university. An intensive outbreak containment effort began, with implementation of standard outbreak control measures: enhanced surveillance for early case-finding; rapid testing and isolation; public health messages to increase student awareness regarding mumps presentation, prevention of transmission, and adherence to isolation recommendations; verification of vaccination status; and catch-up 2-dose vaccination [17]. In October, a targeted third-dose MMR vaccine intervention was implemented at 1 fraternity (24 of 100 members were vaccinated).…”

“…The university purchased the MMR vaccine from the private sector, and the state health department provided the vaccine for Vaccines for Children–eligible students. By the final week of the academic year on May 7, 2016, 319 mumps cases had been reported at the university (298 among students, 21 among staff) and 130 in the surrounding Johnson County community; 25% of students had received a third dose of the MMR vaccine [17]. …”

“…An economic assessment of mumps outbreaks in universities, the primary setting where US mumps outbreaks occur, has not been performed. We assessed the costs of response activities during a 2015–2016 mumps outbreak in a university where the public health response included a university-wide third-dose MMR vaccination campaign [13, 17] to describe the economic burden of mumps outbreaks in university settings.…”