Mumps immunity appears insufficient in some college-aged people even though they were vaccinated in childhood, Emory University and CDC researchers report.
In the last 15 years, several mumps outbreaks have occurred among college students, sports teams and in close-knit communities across the United States.
Two possible contributing factors include waning vaccine-induced immunity and differences between the strain of mumps virus now circulating and the vaccine strain, which is part of the standard measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) childhood vaccine.
