Outbreak declared: Tajpur school under surveillance as 16 kids found infected with mumps

The school has 106 students on its roll and all are under observation; samples taken from entire village

Government High School, Tajpur village, has been put under surveillance after 16 students of the school were found to be infected with mumps, a viral infection that swells up the saliva producing glands of a person.

HT Image

A rapid response team had been dispatched to the school last week, after the students, all aged between 11 to 14, were found infected. The school currently has 106 students on its roll and all are under observation. The team had also surveyed the entire village and collected samples, to be sent to the Integrated Diseases Surveillance Program (IDSP) lab for testing.

Lack of measles, mumps, and rubella (MRR) vaccination is what leaves a person prone to the infection. Mumps virus spreads from person to person through infected saliva. If an individual is not immune, they can contract the viral by breathing in saliva droplets from an infected person.

Dr Divjot Singh, epidemiologist, district health department, said the situation is now under control.

“We have asked the school’s principal to relieve all students infected with mumps. The school will remain under surveillance for 15 more days. Medical officers are also carrying out awareness drive at the school and the village against mumps,” said Dr Divjot Singh.

Last year, mumps outbreak was reported from two areas of the district, including Andlu village in Raikot and Red Cross Bhavan, Sarabha Nagar, Ludhiana.