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Some weeks, health care is all about the numbers.
Let’s start with the number 2.
That’s the number of apparent cases of mumps reported this week at Virginia Commonwealth University. One has been confirmed through laboratory testing, and the second is a suspected incidence of the once-common viral disease, based on symptoms, but pending confirmation through lab tests, according to Danny Avula, director of the Richmond City Health District. Both patients are VCU students.
VCU has issued an advisory to its students and other community members announcing the cases. The advisory describes symptoms to watch for, guidelines to follow for those who believe they may have symptoms of mumps and a recommendation to review immunization records.
Mumps can make you feel like you have a cold or flu and swell salivary glands, puffing your cheeks out chipmunk-style. Symptoms generally show up a couple weeks or so after infection. Potential complications include deafness, inflammation of the ovaries or breast tissue, inflammation of the testicles in adolescent males, meningitis, and encephalitis.
Religious communities and college campuses with close quarters (dorms, classrooms), sharing cigarettes or drinks, and other close contact provide prime transmission opportunities for mumps.
“These things happen sometimes,” says Avula.
The mumps vaccine is part of the MMR vaccine that is generally administered in two doses in childhood and provides protection against measles, mumps and rubella. Some families opt out of vaccinations, and the vaccines themselves aren’t 100 percent effective: Two doses provide 88 percent protection, according to the CDC.
While outbreaks occur, the vast number of people who have received the MMR vaccination generally keeps it at bay. Pre-vaccine days (beginning in the 1960s), mumps affected about 186,000 people each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There were 5,517 cases of mumps last year, and 5,850 reported in 2016. Fourteen cases of mumps were reported in Virginia in 2016, and there were 35 last year. There have been zero to five cases a year over the last five years in Richmond, according to Avula.
Higher = Not Always Better
Sometimes numbers can be disquieting.
The city of Petersburg has assumed last place at No. 133 in a ranking of Virginia counties and municipalities in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s annual county health rankings report. The city dropped in the ranking from No. 132 in the 2017 ranking as it was surpassed by the previous cellar dweller, the city of Emporia, which is at No. 131 for 2018.
Petersburg had the highest number of people reporting only poor to fair health, was last in terms of health behaviors such as obesity and smoking, and was last in social and economic factors that affect health, such as education, poverty and crime.
The report is a mixed bag for the metro Richmond region, ranging from Powhatan County, which ranked 10th in the state, to Petersburg.
Here are the metro area rankings for 2018, and for last year. Follow the links to delve into the detailed reports for each locale.
10 (15 last year) Powhatan County
14 (14 last year) Goochland County
16 (10 last year) Hanover County
27 (26 last year) New Kent County
30 (25 last year) Chesterfield County
33 (34 last year) Henrico County
42 (48 last year) Louisa County
84 (85 last year) Dinwiddie County
89 (96 last year) Charles City County
93 (64 last year) Colonial Heights
114 (109 last year) Richmond
126 (123 last year) Hopewell
133 (132 last year) Petersburg
