Syracuse University Continues Swift and Deliberate Efforts to Limit the Spread of Mumps

In close partnership with the Onondaga County Health Department, Syracuse University continues its aggressive outreach campaign focused on educating the campus community about how to prevent, detect and treat mumps.

At this time, Syracuse University has 13 confirmed cases of mumps; it is monitoring five probable cases. Dr. Indu Gupta, Onondaga County Health Commissioner, provided this information via a press conference earlier Wednesday.

As a follow-up to that press conference, Syracuse University is providing the below written responses to frequently asked questions.

Why isn’t the University reporting more frequently on the number of mumps cases?

As this is a fluid situation, the number of suspected, probable and confirmed cases is changing hourly. To ensure accurate information moving forward, we will only share data on confirmed cases.

The University reported 14 cases Monday, but the county reported 13, why the discrepancy?

In an attempt to present complete information, we were including a probable case in our reporting. Moving forward, we will only include confirmed cases. As a result, we’re adjusting our reporting to only show confirmed cases.

Do all probable cases become confirmed cases?

No. It is our policy that any student who presents with symptom is immediately isolated. We are taking immediate action instead of waiting for confirmatory testing.

Are all students on your campus vaccinated?

Yes, 100 percent of the students on our campus have been properly immunized. It’s important to note that every Syracuse student who has contracted mumps has been properly vaccinated. Five students with religious and medical waivers have been excluded from campus. As Dr. Gupta said, although vaccination is the best protection against mumps, it’s unfortunately not 100 percent effective.

Are all cases connected?

We have been able to determine pockets of students who run in similar social circles. We have a few outliers. We are actively working to understand the connection.

What is the University doing to protect its students?

A cross-campus working group, consisting of medical professionals, staff and University leaders, is working tirelessly to prevent the further spread of this disease. Recent and ongoing efforts include:

• Activating the University’s strong response protocol, consistent with county guidelines, which includes isolating the potentially infected students, sanitizing all areas with which the students came in contact and notifying all people who may have interacted with the affected students.
• Communicating aggressively about the importance of good health practices with students in a variety of manners, including campus signage, email and text messages and one-on-one conversations with individuals in high-risk populations.
• Performing aggressive and consistent cleaning and sanitization of campus facilities in accordance with counsel received from the county.

Is the University providing boosters to students to further protect them against mumps?

No. The state and county health departments do not recommend a third MMR, also known as a booster.

Who should students and parents contact if they have questions?

Parents and students should contact the Office of Health Services at 315.443.9005.