ARCHIVED - Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Mumps Outbreaks in Canada

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background

Mumps is an acute viral disease characterized by fever, swelling, and tenderness of one or more of the salivary glands. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle ache, and swelling and tenderness of the salivary glands at the angle of the jaw (parotid glands). Rarely, mumps infection can lead to meningitis, inflammation of the testicles or ovaries, inflammation of the pancreas, and transient or permanent hearing loss. The severity of illness in recent outbreaks has been low, as there have been few hospitalizations and no deaths reported.

Since the approval of the vaccine against mumps in 1969, the number of reported mumps cases in Canada has decreased by more than 99% (from an average of 34,000 cases reported per year in the early 1950s to fewer than 400 cases per year in the early 1990s). A further reduction in incidence was observed following the introduction of the routine second dose of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine in most provinces and territories for measles control.

As a result of the prolonged outbreak of mumps in the Maritime provinces in 2007 and the increased risk among susceptible populations (among whom mumps cases are expected), these guidelines have been compiled to assist public health officials and clinicians in the public health management of mumps cases and their contacts during outbreaks.

1.2 Guidelines Development and Approval Process

A task group of federal, provincial, and territorial (FPT) partners was assembled by the Centre for Immunization and Respiratory Infectious Diseases (CIRID) of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). The task group brought together public health expertise from across the country, including representation from jurisdictions that had direct experience with or were directly affected by the outbreaks. National teleconferences were held to address outbreak issues and the development of this document. Comments on the various chapters of the guidelines were collected and integrated by CIRID staff on an ongoing basis. The process involved the establishment of links with the Canadian Immunization Committee (CIC) Mumps Immunization Program Option process.

The complete set of guidelines was approved by all members of the FPT task group and reviewed by the CIC, which reports to the Communicable Disease Control Expert Group. The Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health (CCMOH) and Council of the Public Health Network have endorsed this document. The participants involved in the national consensus process are listed in Appendix 1.