Introduction:

This study describes an outbreak of mumps in a Military Academy that began in June 2016 and lasted until the end of October of the same year.

Objective:

To describe the epidemiological characteristics of the outbreak.

Materials and Methods:

This was an observational, retroprospective, cross-sectional review of the medical records of cadets at the Acosta Ñu Military Academy who presented for medical evaluation from June to October, 2016 and with subsequent interviews with identifiedpatientswith parotitis.

Results:

Of 181 cadets, all were male, with an average age of 16 years. We selected a sample of 115 cadets (63%) who presented parotiditis, without involvement of other salivary glands. In 50 cases (44%) the illness was bilateral and in 64 cases (56%), the illness was unilateral. 23 cadets (20%) presented complications, such as orchitis 22 (19%) all unilateral, and one patient had pancreatitis. No patient had meningitis, encephalitis, or myocarditis, and there were no deaths. Of the affected 103 (90%) cadets were not vaccinated with the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, 8 (7%) had received one dose and 2 (2.3%) received two doses. The cases that occurred (63%) were due to the lack of complete vaccination (MMR vaccine, 2 doses) and to the overcrowded conditions of the cadets.

Conclusion:

The Outbreak of parotitis, which occurred at Acosta Ñu Military Academy, was characterized by a high incidence of infections due to incomplete or no vaccination coverage and the overcrowded conditions of the cadets. Therefore, we recommend that upon admission to any institutionthat includes temporary or fixed residence in overcrowded conditions, the minimum requirement should be the presentationof a completedvaccinationcard.

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