Health chiefs are calling on Brits to get vaccinated after England saw its highest number of mumps cases in a decade.
Universities and colleges were found to be a hotbed for the viral illness, with 5,042 cases recorded in 2019 – four times the amount in 2018.
Most of the sufferers were young adults who missed out on the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) jab when they were children in the early 2000s.
The full two doses of the vaccination are needed to maximise protection, Public Health England (PHE) stressed, as it urged people to get theirs done.
Mumps is known for inflicting its sufferers with visibly puffy cheeks and is highly contagious. It is spread through infected droplets of saliva inhaled through the mouth or nose.
In 1998, doctor Andrew Wakefield led a study that linked the MMR vaccine to autism.
His work was subsequently discredited and he was struck off, but uptake of the vaccine dropped to about 80 per cent in the late 1990s and a low of 79 per cent in 2003.
The vaccine prevents most, though not all, cases of mumps, so some young people are still contracting the illness.
Increases in mumps cases were also seen in Scotland and Wales last year.
Dr Vanessa Saliba, of PHE, said it is never too late to catch up on immunisation.
“We encourage all students and young people who may have missed out on their MMR vaccine in the past to contact their GP practice and get up to date as soon as possible,” she told the BBC.
