Mumps vaccine to be improved for future possible outbrakes

Ever heard of mumps? Mumps is a very contagious viral illness, that has the ability to cause serious disorders such as, deafness, sterility, meningitis, and encephalitis. Even though about 90 percent of the United States is immune to the disease, scientists are still trying to improve on treatments or vaccines for it. The vaccine medication for mumps has been recommended in the US since 1977. Since then, the cases for mumps has been declining. But in 2006, the largest outbreak of mumps was reported in the US, where it began on Iowa college campuses, resulting in 6,000 cases. In order to test the population's immunity to mumps, researchers for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed blood samples from people averaging 6 to 49 years of age. The data was collected from more than 15,000 people during 1999-2004, and the results were that 90 percent of the population was immune, so an immediate improvement to help prevent it wasn't to necessary. However, many researchers agreed that this immunity may drop overtime and in order to keep this success progressing, alterations and a more advanced vaccine is crucial.

This article relates to science and biology because researchers are beginning to think that the mumps vaccine should be improved, in order to help keep the success of the 90 percent of the population in the Unites States being immune to it. They fear any future major outbreaks so they're trying to place advancements for it now, throughout the knowledge of science, biology, and also technology.

The topic of this article could affect any of us, therefore it was published to help inform us and to help keep us up to date with new science methods and studies, like most of the articles out there. Who knows what could happen in the future? It's important to prepare now and improve on what science and technology has in store for us.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100824161509.htm