Mumps Checks NHL Players

The National Hockey League is battling an outbreak of mumps among players on several teams, and -- although only nine players have been affected so far -- it comes in a year in which more than 1,000 cases were recorded in the U.S. like influenza, there is a period before the onset of symptoms when infected people are already contagious and can spread the disease unwittingly. They remain contagious for a few days after symptoms appear. But it's unusual, one expert told MedPage Today, that it's occurring among young men most of whom should have been vaccinated against mumps in childhood. All nine players affected -- two Americans, five Canadians, and two Swedes -- come from countries where childhood vaccination with the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is the norm. On the other hand, "the vaccine is not perfect by any means, http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/GeneralInfectiousDisease/49112?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2014-12-13&utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DailyHeadlines&utm_source=ST&eun=g721819d0r&userid=721819&email=amydugan2%40gmail.com&mu_id=5883165&utm_term=Daily