COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Central Ohio officials are warning that children without mumps vaccinations might have to miss weeks of school if an outbreak of the illness hits classrooms.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Columbus Public Health reported 224 mumps cases have in Franklin and Delaware counties, 139 of them been linked to the OSU outbreak.
The Columbus Dispatch reports Wednesday that the health commissioners for Columbus and Franklin County wrote letters to schools encouraging vaccinations.
The letters also advise parents that unvaccinated students might have to stay home 25 days or longer if clusters of mumps cases begin showing up in schools.
Officials have urged residents of the region to make sure they’ve been inoculated with two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.