The mumps outbreak continues here in Manitoba with approximately 60 confirmed cases here in the Southern Health region. 

Dr. Michael Routledge, Medical Officer of Health for Southern Health says although most of those cases were back in January and February, people should still be taking precautionary measures to prevent from getting the virus because it's still around. He adds there have been seven or eight cases of the mumps in our region over the past four months as opposed to last winter when there were a couple cases per week, now it's more like a couple cases per month.

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Dr. Michael Routledge

Many parents with school-age children received a letter from Manitoba Health this week explaining what measures should be taken to help prevent the spreading of the virus as we are now back into the school season.

"The letter now is really a reminder now that as we get into the school season, there are lots of different kinds of viruses, including mumps, but also all kinds of other respiratory viruses. It's essentially a reminder for people to continue to take those precautions and be aware that these viruses are still around and people can take steps to prevent them."

Dr. Routledge says the current plan is for children to get the first dose of the Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine at 12 months and the second dose around the preschool age. He explains what kind of steps you can take to prevent from getting the virus.

"We certainly encourage anybody who hasn't been vaccinated to talk to their healthcare professional about that and make sure you're up to date. Then the other things are if you're sick, you stay home. You're taking precautions like sharing water bottles in particular with mumps tends to be a risk so you don't want to do that if you're on sports teams."

Dr. Routledge notes one of the challenges with mumps is you can transmit it even before you show any signs of symptoms so the precautions around water bottles are just good things to do all the time.