LSU’s Student Health Center has confirmed several student cases of mumps, which was communicated to students and faculty in a Division of Strategic Communications email on Tuesday.

Mumps is a contagious disease spread by contact with infectious respiratory tract secretions and saliva.

Students with swollen and tender salivary glands under the ears or jaw on one or both sides of the face should seek care at the Student Health Center or with their primary care provider. Students with signs of mumps must be kept in isolation for at least five days from the onset of salivary gland swelling.

While there is no specific treatment for mumps, most people recover fully. However, mumps can occasionally cause serious complications, according to the Student Health Center. 

The Student Health Center recommends good hand washing, not eating or drinking after others and covering one’s nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing to help prevent transmission of the disease.

Receiving two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is the best way to prevent pumps. This vaccine is currently required for all students at the University. Most students on campus should be protected due to the vaccine, according to the Student Health Center, but the vaccine is not 100% effective. 

Anyone who has not received two doses of the MMR vaccine is recommended to get the vaccine as soon as possible. A third MMR vaccine is recommended for anyone who has come into contact with someone currently diagnosed with mumps.

The Student Health Center is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays and from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. Students can receive the MMR vaccine free of charge at the Student Health Center Injection Clinic, which is open Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Click here for more information on mumps.