POSTED BY MARTIN KICH

I came across the following two stories over the last several weeks:

Nearly 5,000 Students Get Shots at Temple University amid Mumps Outbreak

A mumps outbreak on the campus of Temple University in Philadelphia has reached the triple digits. The city health department said the number of confirmed and probable cases of mumps at the school reached 108 as of Thursday.

Nearly 5,000 students and faculty members have taken advantage of free vaccine booster shots, with more than 2,500 people given shots Friday during the second clinic offering the MMR vaccine, according to city health officials. The first clinic at the school Wednesday saw more than 2,200 people.

 Indiana University Is Dealing with a Mumps Outbreak–And Most Cases Are Linked to a Fraternity

 While the US grapples with a measles outbreak unlike any we’ve seen in decades, Indiana University has a different problem on its hands: mumps.

 At least 16 cases have been reported at the Bloomington campus since February 12, IU spokesman Chuck Carney said Thursday.

 Nine of those cases have been linked to a single fraternity–the patients were either members of the fraternity, or had visited the fraternity house. . . .

 Carney said while mumps outbreaks are unusual at IU, the campus did have another spate of mumps in 2016.

 

The first excerpted story was published by the Associated Press on March 30, and the second, by CNN on April 17.

The opening of the second story links these mumps outbreaks with the measles outbreaks among K-12 students, and I immediately assumed that these outbreaks were similarly due to some sort of refusal to get vaccinations. But it is almost certainly more complicated than that—as most stories are.

The CDC website has the following information on the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccination:

How Well Does the MMR Vaccine Work?

MMR vaccine is very effective at protecting people against measles, mumps, and rubella, and preventing the complications caused by these diseases. People who received two doses of MMR vaccine as children according to the U.S. vaccination schedule are usually considered protected for life and don’t need a booster dose. An additional dose may be needed if you are at risk because of a mumps outbreak.

One dose of MMR vaccine is 93% effective against measles, 78% effective against mumps, and 97% effective against rubella.

Two doses of MMR vaccine are 97% effective against measles and 88% effective against mumps. . . .

Some people who get two doses of MMR vaccine may still get measles, mumps, or rubella if they are exposed to the viruses that cause these diseases. Experts aren’t sure why; it could be that their immune systems didn’t respond as well as they should have to the vaccine or their immune system’s ability to fight the infection decreased over time.

However, disease symptoms are generally milder in vaccinated people.

— About 3 out of 100 people who get two doses of MMR vaccine will get measles if exposed to the virus. However, they are more likely to have a milder illness, and are also less likely to spread the disease to other people.

— Two doses of MMR vaccine are 88% (range 31% to 95%) effective at preventing mumps. Mumps outbreaks can still occur in highly vaccinated U.S. communities, particularly in settings where people have close, prolonged contact, such as universities and close-knit communities. During an outbreak, public health authorities may recommend an additional dose of MMR for people who belong to groups at increased risk for mumps. An additional dose can help improve protection against mumps disease and related complications.

Although the two news stories do indicate that students may need several dozes of the vaccination or even a booster if they received the two doses when they were very young, they do not really explain why—when explaining why not only would be helpful to those who don’t have any detailed knowledge of the effectiveness of the vaccinations but also would eliminate the spread of partial information that in this instance could quickly become misinformation.

Two nights ago, I was watching a cable television program on how poorly prepared we are to deal with a pandemic. But the experts interviewed for the program did not very fully address the issue of the deliberate dissemination of misinformation or, as in this case, increasing the possibility of a more casual spreading of misinformation through the presentation of incomplete information.

It is not just a play on words to say that the viral communication of misinformation will almost certainly be linked inextricably to any sort of pandemic and compound its impact. But the program that I was watching addressed the issue of public communication by largely focusing on pre-digital media such as official statements and updates disseminated through newspapers, radio, and television. Although all of those media are certainly capable of disseminating misinformation, all of them have controls that are simply not available to any meaningful degree on the Internet or social media platforms.

Worse, I am not sure how a government that continually questions the validity of science and the impact of pernicious manipulations of social media is equipped to address either how best to prepare for a pandemic or how best to mitigate the misuse of social media in response to a pandemic.

 

P.S. I was born before the MMR vaccine and apparently several others were introduced. I remember having not just measles, mumps, and “German measles,” but also chicken pox as a child. So, it is possible that my relative ignorance about the effectiveness of the MMR vaccinations is a result of my age and background. But I suspect that most of those who have received the vaccinations are not much more knowledgeable than I am about their effectiveness.