The state health department issued requirements for students with vaccination exemptions at schools where a student or teacher has become infected with the mumps. These children must remain out of school for at least 26 days or until the outbreak has ended. The outbreak has affected more than 30 schools across three school districts in northwest Arkansas.
The mumps are best known for painful, swollen salivary glands that cause puffy cheeks and swollen jaw. There is no treatment for the mumps and symptoms usually resolve in a few weeks. While the disease is typically mild in children, the mumps can be more severe in adults.
According to the CDC, two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine are 88 percent effective at preventing the mumps.
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