At least one confirmed case and seven “probable cases” among students at Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois, have prompted the Will County Health Department to declare a mumps outbreak on campus, according to a notice posted online by the university.
In response, the Illinois Department of Public Health is requiring all students, staff and faculty submit evidence they’re immune to mumps by Monday, Dec. 10, or they’ll be restricted from campus.
The university said it will accept forms of evidence including written documentation of one or two or more doses of vaccine, depending on the age at vaccination; written documentation of an MMR — measles, mumps, and rubella — booster in the past five years; laboratory evidence showing immunity; laboratory confirmation of having had mumps; or a birthdate before 1957.
Common mumps symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, loss of appetite, and swollen, tender salivary glands under one or both ears, according to the university.
More information is available online from the university, the CDC and the Will County Health Department.