Health officials have surmised that the vaccine for mumps is not fully effective, explaining wide-ranging reports of the viral infection with at least three states recording more than 300 cases each since Jan. 1.
But health experts say that even a partially ineffective vaccine is better than no vaccine at all.
Mumps has been reported in 42 states and the District of Columbia, despite a high compliance rate for vaccinations against the viral infection across the country.
“What we’re seeing is that the mumps vaccine is not perfect, that’s what we’re seeing nationwide,” said Paul Throne, manager of the Office of Immunization and Child Profile, Health Promotion and Communications at Washington state’s Department of Health. “The vaccine is not as effective as we’d hoped.”
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 90 percent of infants born in the U.S. in 2014 received the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella (German measles), known as MMR.
Yet Missouri, Arkansas and Washington each have recorded more than 300 cases of mumps since January.
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