Mumps Questions and Answers Information About the Disease and Vaccines

What should be done if someone is exposed to 

mumps?

If the exposed person has not been vaccinated 

against mumps, receiving the vaccine after exposure 

to the virus will not help prevent disease if the per-

son has already been infected. However, if they did 

not become infected after this particular exposure, 

the vaccine may help protect him or her against 

future infection with the mumps virus.

Q&A

Mumps:

Questions and Answers

information about the disease and vaccines

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How common is mumps in the United States?

Due to good immunization coverage, mumps is 

now rare in the United States. An estimated 212,000 

cases occurred in 1964, while only 229 cases were 

reported in 2012. Several large outbreaks of mumps 

have occurred in the U.S. since 2006, mostly on  

college campuses. Many people who got mumps in 

these outbreaks had already received 2 doses of 

mumps vaccine. As many as 6,500 cases were 

reported during years in which there were outbreaks.