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Mumps at Boston University
By jikamens on Tue, 07/07/2015 - 8:47pm
This just in... Boston University is notifying summer students that one of their own was walking around campus July 1 & 2 with an infectious case of mumps, and requiring students to prove (if their records on file with Student Health Services don't already do so) that they're either vaccinated or immune, or they're going to be isolated from campus by the Boston Public Health Commission.
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Comments
lot of good that'll do
I was hanging around with a bunch of graduate MEDICAL STUDENTS, and one bragged that her doctor said "I'm sure you got them" and signed her immunization records sheet.
Yeaaaaaaah.
Why?
Why do we always wait for the problem to present itself to begin to take action. Out of all places schools should be at the top of the list of making sure students and employees are vaccinated to the fullest. Shame on you BU, students are paying top dollar for your education and I'm sure they want to make it out to use their degree.
State law requires vaccination for college students
Don't assume that this student was not fully vaccinated. Vaccines do an awesome job preventing infection in most people. However, some people have immune issues which keep them from having full immunity after vaccination, and, yes, sometimes vaccination fails.
A friend of mine's fully vaccinated kid with immune insufficiency issues developed chicken pox when he was exposed during a bout of strep throat. Rare, but it happens.
All the more reason for herd immunity.
Another issue is that
Another issue is that immunization records are of variable quality. In one state where I lived, the county school board and health board kept meticulous documentation of every child's immunizations going back to birth, and you could request a packet at any time. In another state, the school didn't require any documentation and the primary didn't provide any, so we just typed up the approximate dates on a Word document and sent that in. Northeastern accepted it with no questions asked.
While
BU is saying this student is enrolled in classes, most universities play host to dozens of camps, conferences, prospective student weekends, high school programs, and orientations. It's hard to police everyone who enters campus.
Not seeing a BU email
I'm not seeing a wide area email on my BU account on this. Maybe this is specific to the medical campus?
They only emailed some students
My understanding is that they only emailed students who attended classes with the infected person on July 1 & 2.
Local CBS story
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/07/08/student-diagnosed-with-mumps-at-bo...