Public-health officials are urging students to get both doses of the MMR - measles, mumps and rubella - immunization as they investigate an outbreak of mumps at Ohio State University. Tonight, Ohio State interim president Joseph A. Alutto notified faculty, staff and students by email about the outbreak. That email indicated that 11 students have now been "diagnosed with suspected mumps."

Public-health officials are urging students to get both doses of the MMR � measles, mumps and rubella � immunization as they investigate an outbreak of mumps at Ohio State University.

Last night, Ohio State Interim President Joseph A. Alutto notified faculty, staff and students by email about the outbreak. That email indicated that 11 students have been �diagnosed with suspected mumps.�

Public-health officials, however, said they�ve confirmed that nine students appear to have the rare, contagious disease. The four men and five women range in age from 19 to 22. None has been hospitalized.

Columbus Public Health spokesman Jose Rodriguez said late last night that he�ll likely get information on the two new cases this morning.

A 12th person � a man whose age and name were not disclosed � is hospitalized with the mumps in Columbus, said Dr. Mysheika Williams Roberts, Columbus Public Health�s medical director and assistant health commissioner.

�We believe it�s a completely separate and isolated case,� Roberts said.

�We offer MMR immunizations now and can certainly schedule clinics as student demand requires,� Dr. Mary Lynn Kiacz, Ohio State student-life medical director, wrote in a statement. �It is important to receive immunization against mumps, which will protect against mumps throughout a lifetime at least 90 percent of the time.�

Symptoms of mumps typically last about a week and include a period of fever, headaches, muscle aches, tiredness and loss of appetite. Thereafter, the salivary glands swell, a telltale sign of the disease, which typically is not fatal.

An infected person can be contagious from a few days before symptoms appear until five days after the onset of swelling. Mumps can spread easily, with a cough or sneeze.

Of the nine student cases confirmed by Columbus Public Health, two were identified as mumps late Wednesday and seven more yesterday, Rodriguez said. The onset of symptoms for those cases ranged from Feb. 12 to March 3.

�I anticipate getting more cases,� Roberts said.

A complication of the outbreak is that OSU students are leaving campus for spring break, which starts after classes today. That means fewer students will be on campus, but some students who were potentially exposed to the disease might be carrying it elsewhere.

Columbus Public Health is urging the students with mumps to remain in voluntary isolation. �At this point, we would not utilize our legal authority to put any of the cases in isolation based on what we know today,� Roberts said.

Mumps used to be common but now is rare because of the MMR vaccine. Most U.S. residents have been vaccinated. Only 454 cases were reported nationwide in 2008, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It�s typically a mild disease in children, but can be more serious with complications in adults. The greatest risk of mumps to adults typically is severe pneumonia, said Dr. Dennis Cunningham, a pediatric infectious-disease specialist at Nationwide Children�s Hospital. Inflammation of the ovaries and testicles can occur, but sterility is unusual, Cunningham said.

bsutherly@dispatch.com

@BenSutherly