Mumps vaccination for teachers

STIKO recommends mumps vaccine for teachers and nurses

30.07.2012

Vaccinations are recommended by the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) of the Robert Koch Institute for various diseases and groups of people. Now the STIKO has spoken out in favor of having teachers vaccinated against mumps in general.

Anyone working with adolescents should be vaccinated against mumps, as well as staff in occupations with patient contact, advises the Standing Vaccination Commission in their latest vaccination recommendations. In this way outbreaks are to be avoided as in a Nuremberg primary school last year.

Changed vaccination recommendation for teachers and nurses
Unprotected persons, „who work in healthcare professions in the field of immediate patient care, community facilities or adult education facilities“, should be immunized against mumps in the future, so the current release of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). According to them, nurses and teachers will now be vaccinated against mumps. The change in vaccination recommendations is the result of a mumps eruption in 2011 at a primary school in Nuremberg, where it was found that some teachers had no vaccine protection against the disease. This had significantly promoted the spread of the diseases.

Mumps outbreak in a Nuremberg primary school
So far, the vaccine recommendation for mumps was only for adults who work in institutions of pediatrics, in community institutions for preschool age and in children's homes. The evaluation of the events in Nuremberg, where 23 people (18 students, 3 teachers and 2 parents) fell ill mumps , the STIKO has now moved to adapt the vaccination recommendation, the current release. In general, a mumps vaccine is recommended until the second year of life, with life-long protection against illness following the two-dose vaccine. The same applies to a lived-through mumps disease.

Typical symptoms of mumps disease
Mumps is usually transmitted by droplet infection. The average incubation period is 16 to 18 days. Mumps is highly contagious in the absence of vaccine protection. While many mumps infections have no apparent symptoms, others present with fever, sore throats, headaches, and the typical swelling of the parotid gland, which can cause severe pain, especially when chewing. Under certain circumstances, other salivary glands, including the pancreas, are also affected, which can result in severe abdominal pain (upper abdomen) and greasy diarrhea (fat stool). In addition, especially in children threatening lethal meningitis, which occur among other things by neurological deficits and dizziness. In rare cases, the mumps disease is followed by an inner ear hearing loss. In males, mumps can also cause an inflammation of the testes, which leads to infertility in the worst case.

Changed recommendations for catch-up vaccinations
In addition to changing recommendations on the mumps vaccination of teachers and nurses, the STIKO has also issued new age-based guidelines for vaccinations for incomplete or unknown vaccination status. According to the STIKO, for example, inadequate vaccination against tetanus, diphtheria, whooping cough or polio should be followed by appropriate vaccinations. In addition, the STIKO advises adolescents born in 1970 who have not been vaccinated against measles in their childhood, or once, for a single measles vaccine, preferably with a measles-mumps-rubella vaccine. Another change in vaccine recommendations concerns meningococci. Here are according to the message of the RKI „by the STIKO for persons at increased risk for severe meningococcal disease and for travelers to countries at high risk of infection“ Vaccinations recommended. (Fp)

Also read about vaccinations:
Stiftung Warentest advises against chickenpox vaccination
WHO: Measles Increase in Europe
Renaissance of the measles in Germany
Go out vaccines for children in Germany?
Japan: Four children die after vaccination

Picture credits: seedo