HALIFAX - Health and university officials in the Maritime provinces say they're encouraged by student response to an offer of free anti-mumps vaccinations on regional campuses.
Nova Scotia, P.E.I and New Brunswick decided to provide a booster shot for mumps, measles and rubella after a major mumps outbreak hit student populations earlier this year.
Most Canadian children, teens and adults under the age of 40 are at risk because they never got a second shot to help fight off infection.
Anne Forrestall of the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton says two-thousand people were given the shots over three days of clinics.
That's about one-quarter of the school's student body.
Nova Scotia's Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Robert Strang, reported yesterday the number of mumps cases in the province since February has climbed to 655 -- an increase of 41 over the week before.
The mumps can be spread through coughing, sneezing and the exchange of saliva, including kissing or sharing drinks.
Symptoms include aches, pains, fever and loss of appetite. In extreme cases, it can lead to meningitis, inflammation of the testicles or ovaries, and hearing loss.
