Students were today urged to get vaccinated against mumps amid warnings of an epidemic on Britain's campuses.
Some 3,000 young people are predicted to come down with mumps by the end of the year compared with just 10 in 1996.
Students are particularly vulnerable. Many 18 to 22-year-olds were not properly immunised as children because they were too young for the triple vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) and did not properly take the double dose of the individual vaccines.
During the early 1990s as a result of the introduction of the MMR vaccine, cases of mumps dropped rapidly. But this also means that today's 18 to 22-year-olds have not had the chance to build up a natural immunity.
Coupled with the close environment of campus, some universities are warning that a major epidemic could be imminent and some are even advising that students who do come down with the illness go into quarantine in their parents' homes.
According to research by the Daily Telegraph, Nottingham University has had 60 cases of mumps this term, Birmingham University had seven new cases last weekend alone and Leeds University has organised mass vaccinations for all pupils.
A spokeswoman for Leeds said: "In response to a rise in the number of mumps cases nationally and advice from the Leeds public health agency the university medical practice organised vaccination sessions for all students at the start of term.
"There will be another vaccination session in February. Plans are in place should there be a major outbreak of the illness."
The symptoms of mumps include fever, loss of appetite and a painful and swollen throat.
In May the Health Protection Agency reported that a UK student was infected with mumps during the 2004 Student Games in Lloret de Mar in Spain during April. The authority issued warnings to the 2,000 students of 41 universities attending the games and outbreaks of mumps were subsequently reported among students in Derby and York.
As early as Spring last year Sheffield began a mass innoculation programme to prevent an outbreak.
