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January 10, 2003

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Fears Raised Over Possible Mutant Mumps in Britain"

Reuters Health Information Services (www.reutershealth.com) (01/09/03); Hagan, Pat

Liverpool Public Health Laboratory's Dr. Brendan Crowley believes he may have discovered evidence of a mutant strain of the mumps virus in Britain, one that may be resistant to the mumps vaccine.  Crowley, who reported his findings in the journal Communicable Disease and Public Health, says that mutant forms of the virus could be part of the reason for the recent climb in U.K. mumps infections, and that this strain could have found a way to evade detection by the human immune system.  The report describes the cases of a mother and her 11-year-old son, who both had the disease despite the fact that she was immune and he had already been vaccinated or infected. Tests revealed that even though they were infected with the same strain of mumps, the woman's immune system responded differently to the virus than her son's, producing high levels of antibodies to the G genotype strain of mumps, which is not included in the current vaccine.

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