Didn’t we defeat mumps a long time ago?

The Gazette reports.

University of Iowa campus reports more than 100 mumps cases

The University of Iowa campus this semester has seen more than 100 cases of mumps, prompting UI health officials to offer free doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.

Officials with the university and Johnson County Public Health on Friday via email urged students under age 25 to get a third MMR dose, and they listed multiple opportunities to do so for free on campus in the next two weeks.

“We have seen more than 100 cases of mumps in our community in the last few months and the numbers have been increasing in recent weeks,” Kathleen Wittich, medical director of UI Student Health and Wellness, said in an email sent to campus. “We are strongly recommending that students who are at the highest risk for mumps, those under 25, receive a third dose of the MMR vaccine — especially before they leave for the Thanksgiving holiday break.”

The university is offering multiple special clinics on campus to protect students from getting mumps and to reduce its spread “not only in the campus community, but across the state and outside Iowa.”

“The decision to provide a third dose of the MMR vaccine is a proactive approach to curtail this illness,” Johnson County Public Health Director Doug Beardsley said in an email. “At this time, we do not anticipate a threat to the general public, but we are continuing to monitor the situation closely.”

Officials said they are recommending a third MMR shot because immunity that most students received from vaccines before starting kindergarten has waned and needs to be boosted.