TEENAGERS and other young adults are being urged to ensure they are fully protected against mumps following a dramatic rise in cases in the past year.
Some 590 people have been diagnosed with mumps so far in 2009, a threefold increase when compared with the 187 people affected in the whole of 2008.
There have been 274 cases in West Yorkshire, 209 in North Yorkshire, East Yorkshire and North Linc
olnshire and 105 in South Yorkshire in 2009.
Stephen Morton, regional director for the Health Protection Agency in Yorkshire, urged young people to check they have had two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.
Many in the age group were too old to be routinely vaccinated with the MMR jab when it was first introduced in 1988 and some others had received only one dose.
Cases had increased more steeply in recent years because many children born between 1980 and 1992 were now in further education and the disease was known to spread in student populations in particular.
A survey carried out by the Department of Health has found more than half of students do not know of serious complications triggered by mumps.
Dr Morton said: "Mumps should not be treated lightly. It can be a severe disease, with potential for serious side-effects including viral meningitis."
