Mumps Reported At Romeoville Elementary School

ROMEOVILLE, IL — A case of mumps has been confirmed at R.C. Hill Elementary School in Romeoville this week. The Valley View case comes two months after an outbreak on the Lewis University campus in Romeoville with at least 10 confirmed and probable cases.

Valley View Director of Community Relations Jim Blaney said the Will County Health Department recently notified the district that a student at R.C. Hill was confirmed to have the virus. Blaney said the student had not been in school for a week when officials learned of the illness.

Blaney said Valley View is following all protocols set by the health department, and the campus' school nurse has reviewed the immunization records for all students. Parents of all students who were not immunized or are immunocompromised were also notified, Blaney said.

In a note sent home to parents, R.C. Hill's school nurse noted, "mumps is not common in children that are up-to-date with their vaccinations.

"The best way to prevent your child from getting mumps is to make sure they are up to date with their vaccinations," the letter notes. "School-aged children should have received at least one dose of a mumps vaccine (either mumps vaccine or measles-mumps-rubella, MMR) on or after their first birthday. A second dose of MMR is also recommended at 4-6 years of age."

Parents who are not sure if their child has received the mumps vaccine should contact their child's primary care doctor.

A probable case of mumps was also reported this week at Will County School District 92 in Lockport. The Romeoville and Lockport cases aren't the only ones reported recently in the area. In January, a probable case of mumps was reported at Goodings Grove Elementary School in Homer Glen. Before that, a case was also reported at Lockport Township High School. Also in December, probable and confirmed cases were reported at Columbia College and Loyola University.

At Lewis University, the December outbreak prompted multiple events to be canceled and rescheduled, and pushed December graduation ceremonies back until May.

Mumps is spread by droplets of saliva or mucous from the mouth, nose or throat of an infected person, usually when the person coughs, sneezes or talks. It can also be spread by items used by an infected person such as cups or soft drink cans, especially if those items are shared.

Symptoms include:

• Swollen or painful salivary glands under the ears or jaw, or on the cheeks
• Fever
• Headache
• Muscle aches
• Tiredness
• Loss of appetite
• Swollen and tender salivary glands under the ears on one or both sides.

Mumps symptoms typically appear 16 to 18 days after infection, and while some people who get it have very mild symptoms or no symptoms at all, in others it can cause potentially serious complications, according to the CDC.

Complications are more likely to arise in adults, including inflammation in the testicles that can lead to infertility, inflammation of the brain (encephalitis), meningitis, inflammation of the ovaries or breast tissue, and even deafness.

Anyone with symptoms should notify their doctor immediately. People who contract mumps should stay home for five days after the swelling of salivary glands begins. Children who have fevers should not be treated with products containing aspirin, according to R.C. Hill's school nurse, as use of products containing aspirin for viral infections like mumps could result in a serious condition called Reye syndrome.

Andrea Earnest, Patch Staff, contributed to this report.