Long Beach mumps outbreak continues

Nearly a month after the Nassau County Department of Health began investigating 18 incidences of mumps in and around Long Beach, officials have confirmed that the number of people affected has spiked to 36.

The outbreak came to the agency’s attention in July, according to Mary Ellen Laurain, a spokeswoman for the Nassau County Department of Health, as officials reported that more cases were discovered and are limited to the city and its surrounding areas last week.

“Through our investigation, there was a commonality with individuals having an association with Long Beach,” Laurain said.

Mumps is a contagious respiratory disease caused by a virus, which is transmitted through droplets from an infected person’s cough, sneeze, saliva or from direct contact with an infected surface.  It is best known for the puffy cheeks and swollen jaw caused by inflammation of the salivary glands under the ears on one or both sides, and has no treatment.

Most of the cases have been among young adults in their 20s, and Laurain told the Herald that many have been relatively minor and have not required hospitalization.

Dr. Aaron Glatt, chairman of South Nassau Communities Hospital’s department of medicine, said mumps is common, and during this outbreak, “a whole bunch” of the cases have been seen at the hospital’s facilities.

Glatt recommends residents in the area to get two vaccination shots, and if patients have low immunity based on a blood test, a third dose may be a good option. He added that personal hygiene before and after an individual is exposed is very important.

The incubation period — the amount of time between exposure to the first sign of symptoms — for mumps is 12 to 25 days, and officials say it is hard to predict how many more cases will appear in the area.

“I don’t think we’ve peaked, I don’t think we’re on our way down yet,” Glatt said, “but I don’t know how much more up there will be.”