A week after SUNY-New Paltz had to quarantine several students diagnosed with mumps, the disease has struck again at Bard College.
According to a Nov. 4 release by Bard College Health Service Director Barbara Jean Briskey, a student diagnosed with mumps has been isolated until no longer contagious after being diagnosed clinically, awaiting laboratory confirmation.
In the release, Briskey asks that students, employees and visitors make sure their immunizations are up to date and suggests frequent hand-washing in accordance with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the campus has enhanced its cleaning efforts in public areas including Stevenson Athletic Center, the Student Center, Kline Commons and public areas in the residence halls,” states the release.
Caution is urged even among vaccinated persons on campus because the mumps vaccine is not 100 percent effective. According to the CDC, the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine “prevents most, but not all, cases of mumps and complications caused by the disease. Two doses of the vaccine are 88% (range: 66-95%) effective at preventing mumps; one dose is 78% (range: 49%−92%) effective.”
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