Mumps outbreak reaches Virginia Tech campus
By Katherine Greene
Reporting from Blacksburg
The nation’s mumps epidemic has reached Virginia Tech, but school health officials say they are still unsure of its impact.
Only three students have been isolated so far, but countless others may have been affected, nurse manager Sharon Evans said Thursday.
The three affected students do not have confirmed cases of mumps, but their symptoms are what Evans called “highly suspicious.” The health center performed blood tests which were sent to a state lab.
Evans said the health center expects to see the results in four to five days.
Mumps is a virus that causes excessive swelling in the parotid salivary glands and has flu-like symptoms. There have been several outbreaks nationwide in recent weeks, including several at the University of Virginia.
The students must remain isolated for nine days after they first felt sick. According to Evans, they have all gone home, since they cannot go to class or share rooms with their roommates.
But many students seem unconcerned. Ellen Biltz, editor-in-chief of the Collegiate Times, Virginia Tech’s student newspaper, said that because many students are already vaccinated against mumps, “it makes them feel safer.”
"I wouldn’t say there is a big uprising about it,” Biltz said.
According to the policy at the Schiffert Health Center on campus, students who shared classes and dormitories with the infected individuals were sent a mass e-mail telling them of the risks.
Evans also said that the dean of each infected student’s college was informed, as well as the director of housing where each student lives.
“We just tell them that they have been in contact with someone who may have mumps so they can check to see if they’ve had two MMR shots,” Evans said.
To attend Virginia Tech, students are only required to have one MMR shot, without its follow-up. But Evans pointed out that most students had both shots when they were young children, so the risk of infection is not high.
The Schiffert Health Center does not provide MMR vaccinations, but the shots are available at Blacksburg’s local health department.
Though the school does not release the names of the individuals in the mass e-mails, Evans said that the health center posted a fact sheet on the its public website. The sheet provides links to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as tips for dealing with the virus, such as taking Tylenol to ease inflammation.
The university also set up a hotline to help answer any questions students may have regarding the illness.
She said that the hotline has not received many calls, but that it averaged around 20 each day.
Biltz said that the size of the campus may factor into student apathy. “The only time we know when students get worked up is when there is a protest,” she said.
Produced by Washington and Lee journalism students.
Lead supervisor: Prof. Claudette Artwick
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Technical supervisor: Michael Todd