Parents are being urged to check their children's immunisation status during the school holidays with a second case of mumps notified in Hawke's Bay yesterday.
Earlier this month, a pupil from Waipukurau Primary School was confirmed as having the infection, and this week another case of a Hastings Girls' High School student was notified.
An outbreak of mumps had hit the Auckland region this year with 457 cases reported as of this week, and although there were only two reported in Hawke's Bay the second case confirmed the virus was now circulating in the region, said Hawke's Bay DHB medical officer of Health Dr Rachel Eyre.
She commended both schools for working swiftly with health officials to ensure important health advice got out to all parents/caregivers and wider school communities.
"Mumps is a highly infectious viral infection spread by breathing, sneezing and coughing, and can spread quickly among those who are not immune, particularly in schools.
"When there are confirmed cases of mumps in schools, anyone who has been exposed who does not have a record of mumps immunisations, or has not had the infection, may need to be excluded from school/public areas for up to 25 days."
Dr Eyre said the upcoming school holiday period provided an ideal opportunity for parents and carers to check their children were up to date with immunisations.
"It's vitally important parents check their child's immunisations are up to date and be aware that if your child is developing a fever or has swelling of the glands around the cheeks or jaw, to stay home and phone your doctor in the first instance, or Heathline on 0800 611 116."
It was also important that people with suspected mumps stayed away from school, work or community gatherings until five days after swelling developed or until well, whichever was sooner, she said.
For anyone born after 1981 who has never had mumps or mumps/MMR immunisation, it was important they visited their family doctor, Dr Eyre said, adding that two documented doses was required to provide immunity.
"The sooner the free immunisation is given, the more likely it is to protect you."
Children were vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella at 15 months and 4 years. In the year to June, 88 per cent of 5-year-olds were vaccinated.
According to the Ministry of Health the MMR (measles, mumps rubella) vaccine was the best defence against mumps, which in about one in 10 people caused meningitis, but it was usually relatively mild.
It could also cause encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) in about one in 6000 people, of whom one in 100 would die.
If infected after puberty, one in five males experienced testicle inflammation and one in 20 females suffered inflammation of the ovaries. In rare cases this could lead to infertility.
The Ministry said the risk associated with the vaccine was low, with aseptic mumps meningitis occurring in one in 800,000 vaccine recipients. This was less severe than the illness caused by the mumps virus.
For more information visit http://www.immune.org.nz/diseases/mumps