BLOOMINGTON — Nearly two dozen students have now been diagnosed with mumps on Indiana University's Bloomington campus, and school leaders expect those numbers to rise.
University officials have confirmed three new cases since a press conference earlier this week where they reported 20 students were infected. The first case of mumps was discovered on the Bloomington campus back on February 12.
The outbreak on campus was declared one month later.
An email to students on Thursday asked graduating students who have the mumps to isolate themselves and avoid commencement activities so as not to infect anyone else.
School officials say so far there have been no major complications resulting from the outbreak, but multiple students have been hospitalized and in isolation.
The school is still awaiting results of additional tests for cases that are suspected to be mumps.
According to the Mayo Clinic, mumps is a viral infection that mostly affects saliva-producing glands that are located near the ears and causes swelling in one or both of these glands.
Mumps cases in the U.S. have dropped dramatically since the mumps vaccination became routine. However, the number of outbreaks has crept up in recent years, and tend to occur in close-contact settings such as schools or college campuses.
IU officials set up a webpage for the campus community to learn about the mumps and the latest number of cases.
