1. As of Tuesday, 15 cases of mumps have been confirmed on campus, said Dr. Lynne
Deane, the director of the Student Health Center. Tests administered to other students are
still being processed, she said.
In total, 39 students have been tested for the virus since January, Deane said. Mumps is a
communicable viral illness and typically carries symptoms like fever, head and body
aches, tiredness and swollen or tender glands in the jaw, according to the Virginia
Department of Health (VDH) Web site.
The first case on campus was confirmed in January, but the next two cases weren’t
confirmed until the week before Spring Break, Deane said. Throughout March,
Richmond has been providing preventative suggestions to students and parents via email.
Testing for mumps requires blood and saliva samples, and the blood test can take weeks
to analyze and sometimes offers contradictory results to the saliva sample, Deane said.
The VDH considers three instances of mumps in the span of 25 days an outbreak, said
Brian Eckert, Richmond’s director of media and public relations. As more tests are
confirmed, it complicates the process of tracing a potential source of exposure, Deane
said.
This rise in potential infections, called suspect cases, makes new tests difficult to
confirm. “Students want me to reassure them that they don’t have mumps, but I can’t do
that,” Deane said.
The virus is most contagious in the two days before and the five days after the onset of
symptoms, Deane said. “This means you could be around infected people this weekend
who haven’t shown any symptoms of mumps yet,” said Dr. Parham Jaberi, the VDH
Henrico director.
Suspect cases are defined by “connection in time and space,” Jaberi said. This means that
if someone has been on campus during the month of March and is displaying symptoms
indicative of mumps, they are considered a suspect case, he said.
“Unfortunately it’s a fairly contagious illness,” Jaberi said. “It can be spread by talking,
coughing and sneezing, so the best thing the University can do is to isolate people,” he
added.
According to the health center, if a student is determined to be acutely ill they are
recommended to be isolated.
Jaberi estimated that 150 students could eventually acquire the virus, a rough estimate
derived from the fact that the vaccine is only 95% effective. “We feel that up to 5% and
possibly more of the student body may be at risk of becoming ill,” Jaberi said. How well
students isolate themselves and how quickly they are tested could impact the rate and
extent of infection, he said.

2. Thus far, all students who have been recommended for isolation have gathered in the
North Court Blue Room or in their personal off-campus residences, Eckert said. The
university has recommended students who live off-campus to stay in their rooms and
wear a mask in common areas. The Fiji Lodge is also prepared for isolated students but
has not yet been used, Eckert said.
“We’re not quarantining anyone,” Eckert said. “I’ve heard that word being used but that’s
not what is going on.”
One Westhampton College student who was isolated said: “I asked multiple times about
staying in my off-campus house and wearing a mask when I went in common areas, but
was told that was definitely not an option. My options were isolation on campus, to go
home or to go to a hotel.” Two days later she was contacted and told that she could return
to her off-campus house.
Junior Richard Arnett said he was permitted to isolate himself in his off-campus
residence. “Originally they said that I either needed to go home or isolate on campus,” he
said. “Most students live off campus with a bunch of people, but since I only live with
two people I think that may have had a factor in their decision.”
The isolation period lasts for five days after students have demonstrated symptoms.
During this phase, the virus is more contagious, Deane said.
The worst part of isolation was the body aches, Arnett said. “I couldn’t even get out of
bed some days because it was so painful,” he said. “I’ve never had pain like that.”
Once a student has been tested for the mumps, the health center contacts the deans’
offices. The deanery then notifies the student’s professors and provides those students in
on-campus isolation with meals.
Steve Bisese, vice president for student development, spoke at a faculty meeting to
inform professors about the situation and how to proceed: “Students should not be going
to class if they have mumps,” Bisese said, “And our faculty understands that.”
The cluster of mumps outbreaks has not been limited to Richmond. Loyola University,
Maryland, has seen at least 12 cases of mumps arise in the past month, according to CBS
news Baltimore.
The Richmond and state health departments are coordinating to provide information to
the Centers for Disease Control, so that a genetic analysis of the specific virus can be
compared to other strains, Jaberi said. “No direct links have been identified at this time,”
he said.
Analyzing the genetics of the virus can help link it to other outbreaks, and to determine if
the current Mumps Measles and Rubella (MMR) vaccinations cover the strain, Jaberi
said.

3. The New England Journalism of Medicine has recently released a study suggesting that
just because a strain is covered by the vaccination doesn’t mean that vaccinated persons
are immune to it.
“There are only six full-time students on the university campus who have not been
immunized with the MMR vaccination at least once,” Deane said. “The VDH is now
considering the benefits of administering added doses on campus, and I expect they will
reach a decision soon.” The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) does not approve
administering a third vaccination.
Deane has been in daily contact with epidemiologists in the VDH to establish what
specific symptoms need to be shown to render testing.
“As of Tuesday, the health center will continue to test patients with obvious mumps
symptoms, and patients with respiratory symptoms who have had close contact with
known or suspected cases,” Deane said.
“We have some plans in our books that we might go to if it gets to a certain point, but we
don’t expect that to happen,” Eckert said. “School cancellations or closing has not even
been a topic of conversation. We just don’t expect that it will ever reach that point,”
Eckert said.
Going forward, the university is prepared to take the situation in stride and to adhere to
recommendations from the state health department, Deane said. “Because there is such a
long incubation period, this could be going on all semester,” she added.