We spoke to one of the Purdue mumps patients

With five reported mumps cases on the Purdue West Lafayette campus, we found one of the now recovering students. We were itching to learn more about her whole experience as a member of the mini-epidemic on campus. She also requested to remain anonymous as there has been some menacing behavior online from people who assume all of the Purdue mumps patients are children of “anti-vaxxer” parents (parents who oppose vaccination). More on that later.

Are you aware of how you contracted it?

Because of the timing of when I started showing symptoms, the doctors estimate that I contracted it around the time of Spring Break. I was hanging out around people who also ended up having the mumps, but we are unaware of who it came from originally.

What were the signs that made you realize it could actually be mumps?

At first the doctor thought I had a salivary gland infection because my symptoms were a fever and swelling in my salivary glands. But because the swelling progressed and became more painful I started to worry that it wasn’t just an infection. I had been Googling other possibilities that matched the symptoms I was showing and the mumps came up several times. Because I had two doses of the MMR vaccination and it is such a rare disease, I thought there was no way that it was even a possibility I had the mumps. However, the next day I heard through a friend that there were other students on campus who had tested positive for the mumps, so I went back to the doctor’s office to get tested.

Did you find out before or after the actual news of mumps spreading got around campus?

I had been in contact with both the Tippecanoe County Health Department and the Indiana State Department of Health, and I was aware that it was the mumps before the news story was released.

Do you feel the Purdue health center educated you enough to know how to deal with it?

I was never in contact with the Purdue health center about the mumps. I was in contact with the IU Health Arnett Urgent Care center, the Tippecanoe County Health Department, and the Indiana State Department of Health. Each of these places gave me all of the education available about the mumps so I knew how to handle the situation.

Are you aware of any other people becoming sick because of interacting with you?

There has not been anyone who has become ill because of interaction with me while I had the mumps. I remained in my room for the majority of my contagious period to avoid spreading the illness to anyone else.

Do you think Purdue is handling the outbreak sufficiently?

I think that Purdue has done an excellent job handling the outbreak. They released the news about the outbreak as soon as possible and are now offering free MMR immunizations to students on campus.

If you could describe what the mumps feel like, how would you describe it?

While I had the mumps I experienced several different symptoms. I felt tired, had very little appetite and had a fever. The most significant symptoms were those involving my salivary glands and jaw. I had swelling in my cheeks and around my jaw on both sides of my face which made it very painful to chew, open my mouth, and even swallow. The swelling in my face and tightness of my jaw lasted about a week.

What was your response to reading the multiple Facebook accusations of being an anti-vaxxer?

I was getting a little upset about all of the negative comments about me and the other students with the mumps. People were implying that we didn’t have any vaccinations and that we were putting others at risk, which is, in fact, not true. We had all of the vaccinations and stayed quarantined and away from others to prevent spreading it any further once we started showing symptoms. It was just disappointing to see how rude people could be.