April 28 - More than 1,000 cases of the mumps have been reported in Iowa and seven surrounding states in the largest outbreak of the disease in the United States in more than 20 years. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are sending 25,000 doses of measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine to the affected states, and another 25,000 are being donated by Merck & Co.

Mumps is caused by a virus and spreads like influenza, mainly through coughing and sneezing. Common symptoms include fever, headache, tiredness, and loss of appetite, followed by swollen glands. According to the CDC, the main way to prevent mumps is to achieve and maintain high immunization levels. Data from outbreak investigations has shown that one dose of the MMR vaccine is about 80 percent effective; and limited data shows that adding a second dose brings the vaccine’s efficiency to about 90 percent.

Many Institute of Medicine reports discuss disease control, prevention and immunization practices. Microbial Threats to Health: Emergence, Detection, and Response examined how diseases such as the mumps spread and how they can be controlled. In Immunization Safety Review: Vaccines and Autism, after a thorough review of clinical and epidemiological studies, the study committee found that neither the mercury-based vaccine preservative thimerosal nor MMR vaccine was associated with autism.

• Microbial Threats to Health: Emergence, Detection, and Response (2003)
• Immunization Safety Review: Vaccines and Autism (2004)

• CDC Mumps Information Center