Parents notified of possible case of mumps at ETHS
May 5, 2014
Evanston Township High School is putting parents on alert about a possible case of mumps at the school.
In a letter posted Monday evening on the ETHS website, District 202 Superintendent Eric Witherspoon and Evonda Thomas-Smith, director of the Evanston Health Department, tell parents “a person in your child’s school” may have contracted the contagious disease.
Witherspoon and Thomas-Smith are asking parents to ensure their children’s vaccinations are up to date. The letter says school-aged children should have received two or more doses of the mumps vaccine — at least once on or after their first birthday and another between the ages of four and six.
Initial symptoms of mumps include fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness and loss of appetite, according to the letter. Once one’s salivary glands begin to swell, he or she is advised to stay at home for the next five days.
Correction: A previous version of this story said the possible case of mumps involves a student. The letter does not say that. The Daily regrets the error.
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