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Mumps infection at Weymouth High School
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School officials at Weymouth High School have confirmed that one of the school’s students has a case of the mumps, WBZ reported.
In an email sent out to parents notifying them of the case, the school explained it received a report from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health on Thursday.
“At this time, there are no other reports indicating that any other student, staff member or child at Weymouth High is infected with mumps,” the email told parents.
WCVB reported that there is a day care on the school’s campus, which is a concern since most of the children are too young to receive the mumps vaccine.
This is the first reported case of the highly contagious airborne virus in a high school setting, with a handful of Boston-area colleges reporting cases in the past few week.
Though Boston received nine reports of the mumps so far this year, the disease is “no longer very common,” according to the Centers for Disease Control. The number of cases can vary widely each year – in 2010, the United States saw 2,612 cases, but only 229 in 2012.
According to WCVB, there have been 28 confirmed cases of the mumps across the state since the beginning of the year.
