According to media reports mumps cases in England are the highest they have been in a decade and are set to worsen. There were 5,042 recorded cases of mumps in England in 2019 – four times the number in 2018.
Public Health England said the problem shows no sign of slowing, with 546 cases already confirmed in January alone.
Many of the infected are young adults at university or college, where outbreaks have become common. They may have missed their jabs as children because their parents believed antivaxx claims made by the disgraced doctor Andrew Wakefield.
Research by Wakefield in 1988 made false links between the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine and autism.
Public Health England (PHE) said its never too late to have both doses of the MMR vaccine which offers maximum protection.
Data from PHE show that there were 5,042 confirmed cases of mumps in England in 2019, compared to 1,066 cases in 2018.
The rise in cases looks set to continue in 2020 - with 546 confirmed cases in January 2020 compared to 191 during the same period in 2019.
A large number were born in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and had missed out vital vaccines as children.
The MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) jab was introduced in 1988, and has reduced cases of all three viruses since.
Measles, mumps and rubella are highly infectious conditions that can have serious, potentially fatal complications, including meningitis, swelling of the brain and deafness.
