Dont know if you guys know this or not.
But Mumps, a highly contagious disease is spreading in Toronto.
A health advisory has been issued.
http://www.torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2007/05/16/4184083-sun.html
Three cases of mumps in Toronto have been linked to a recent outbreak among students from Eastern Canada, according to Toronto Public Health.
Two of these individuals are students who returned to Toronto from university in Halifax where the mumps outbreak has been ongoing since January. The third case is a close contact of one of the two university students. This individual was at a downtown restaurant while infectious with mumps.
“We are asking anyone who was at Supermarket Restaurant and Bar at 268 Augusta Ave. last Thursday evening, May 10, between the hours of 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. to watch for signs and symptoms of the mumps,” said Dr. Barbara Yaffe, associate medical officer of health.
The mumps virus is most commonly found in saliva and is often transmitted when an infected person passes saliva to another by sharing drinks, food, cigarettes or kissing, or by coughing and sneezing.
Signs and symptoms include swelling and pain in one or more salivary glands at the sides of the cheeks, fever, headache, muscle aches and pains, fatigue and loss of appetite.
Most people who get the mumps recover fully within two weeks. In very rare cases, there can cause encephalitis, meningitis or orchitis – inflammation of the lining of the testicles.
Most adults born before 1970 have likely had mumps infection and are likely immune. Most children born after 1990 have received two doses of measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine. Two doses normally provides lifelong immunity. If you were born in Ontario after 1970, or before 1990, you likely received one dose of the vaccine.
Mumps in Toronto is rare, with an average of five cases per year over the last 10 years.
“Toronto Public Health is … asking all students who have returned to Toronto from the East Coast to watch for signs … of mumps,” Yaffe said. Call Toronto Public Health at 416-338-7600 or visit toronto.ca/health.
well still better then being a republican.
oh no…