Mumps threatening to make a comeback in Finland

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Whilst it is hardly endemic, mumps seems to be making a bit of a comeback in Finland. Last year, six cases of mumps were identified, four of which occurred in September-December, one case per month.
      In 2006 and 2005 eight and six cases of mumps were reported respectively. Before that, however, the number of annual mumps cases has been considerably lower. For example, at the turn of the millennium not one single case was diagnosed.
      And this was how it should be, for steps had been taken to eradicate the illness altogether.
     
The incidence of mumps started abating when the MPR vaccine was included in the general immunisation programme. The MPR vaccine (also sometimes known as the MMR vaccine) provides immunisation against Measles, Mumps (Parotitis), and Rubella (German measles).
      The vaccination campaign practically eliminated these diseases from Finland.
      In fact, Finland was the first country in the world to wipe out these three common childhoos ailments, Professor Heikki Peltola from the University of Helsinki notes in his new book on children's health.
      "We have no reason to be lulled into thinking that this pleasant situation will automatically continue, however. We will only stay clear of measles, mumps, and rubella if a minimum of 95 percent of the children are reached year after year and all suspicious cases are responded to swiftly", Peltola emphasises.
     
The innocent sounding measles is still a serious threat to the children of the world. The World Health Organisation calls it the greatest killer of small children.
      The year before last, it was estimated that 27 children died of measles every hour.
      Through vaccination campaigns, though, measles - which is regarded as one of the most contagious illnesses - has been got under some sort of control.
      In 2000-2006 nearly 500 million children in countries particularly ravaged by the illness received immunisation against it.
      This resulted in a massive 68-percent reduction in measles-related deaths. In Africa the percentage was even higher, 91%.
     
Mumps is usually contracted when travelling abroad, says special researcher Irja Davidkin of the National Public Health Institute. Of those that contracted the illness last year, only one had been vaccinated against it. The rest had already passed the infant age by 1982, when the mass MPR vaccinations were introduced.
      Davidkin points out that the illness is still extremely rare, even if the number of cases has increased slightly.
      "The situation is still very good, thanks to the good coverage of the immunisation scheme."
     
A vaccinated person contracting the illness is explained by the fact that the MPR vaccine does not provide as complete protection against mumps as it does against measles and rubella.
      In recent years there have been mumps outbreaks among those vaccinated against it in the United States and Canada.
      As a consequence, a research team led by Heikki Peltola looked into the efficiency of various mumps vaccines. The vaccine used in Finland proved 95-per cent effective.
      "An epidemic may be caused by a virus strain different from the one that the vaccine was originally developed against, in which case the protection is not equally good", Davidkin adds.
     
Mumps, measles and German measles were commonplace in Finland into the 1960s - illnesses that practically all children woulde succumb to, even if they did not actually manifest clinical symptoms.
      Though sometimes dismissed as "childhood infections", and in most cases passing over with a week or two off school, these were not innocent or harmless illnesses by any means, with possible knock-on effects and complications.
      To give a simple example, rubella contracted in early pregnancy was an indicator that the child might be born with congenital rubella syndrome (CRS), a range of serious incurable illnesses.
      Equally, measles in adulthood often leads to more serious complications than among children. Measles is still a significant cause of child mortality in many developing countries.


Links:
  Mumps (Wikipedia)
  MMR/MPR vaccine (Wikipedia)

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