Taking action

When the Nova Scotia mumps outbreak began to affect Dal students last spring, Health Services and others on campus reacted immediately to meet the needs of students who were sick, and contain the spread of the illness.

Now Dalhousie is embarking on a new program to help maintain a safe and healthy campus for the coming year, with a goal of preventing mumps cases from occurring.

Working in cooperation with Dalhousie Health Services and the Department of Health, Dal will offer a voluntary MMR (measles/mumps/rubella) vaccination program on campus in early September.

"It's a super new service for Dal students Ñ Nova Scotia is first in Canada to do this," said Dr. Bonnie Neuman, Vice-President, Student Services "We're serious about protecting our students' health Ñ it's key to their academic success."

Students can take preventive steps now by seeing their family doctor and getting the MMR vaccine before the fall term.

Nova Scotia has been managing an outbreak of mumps since February of this year. The outbreak has mainly affected students between the ages of 19 to 24, who received only a single dose of MMR at one year. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommends that post-secondary students be offered a second dose of MMR vaccine.

"This vaccination program provides the best possible safeguard for students," said Barry Barnet, Minister of Health Promotion and Protection. Mr. Barnet said he is pleased with the co-operation between his department and post-secondary institutions across Nova Scotia to develop the program.

The vaccine will accessible to all Nova Scotians attending a university or college (both within and outside the province) as well as to all students from outside of Nova Scotia attending universities and colleges here. Students can take preventive steps now by seeing their family doctor and getting the MMR vaccine before the fall term.

Clinics will be set up on campus when students return in the fall. Details will be posted to the Health Services site once they become available. For more information on the MMR vaccine and the mumps, check the Health Services site at: http://healthservices.dal.ca/