Sailors sent home because of mumps

May 28 2007

A Canadian naval vessel had been forced to send almost it's entire crew home after one of the crew members developed a case of the mumps.

The navy ship which is based in Halifax, is the latest victim in an outbreak of mumps which began in Nova Scotia in February; health officials in Nova Scotia say the total number of cases has now reached 302 cases, with 30 new cases being reported in the last week.

The crew of HMCS Glace Bay will be off for at least a week, when officials will reassess the situation.

Experts fully expect more cases to occur and say the outbreak will continue for a few more months.

More than 60% of those infected in this latest outbreak are aged between 17 and 24 years, and doctors believe this is due to the fact that many people in that age group did not receive a second vaccine booster shot.

Two doses are now standard practice in Canada for the vaccine against mumps, measles and rubella.

When the initial outbreak occurred at universities around the Halifax area, doctors did warn that college students returning home on vacation could very well spread the disease to other regions across Canada.

Mumps has since appeared in Manitoba, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Alberta and Ontario.

Those with symptoms of the mumps are advised to stay home to avoid spreading the disease further, however, some people can be contagious before showing symptoms, which include aches, pains, fever, loss of appetite and swollen saliva glands, although there are potentially more serious complications, including deafness.