Report: Religion helping spread of mumps

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Canadian health officials in British Columbia say an outbreak of mumps near Vancouver is being spread by religious groups opposed to vaccinations.

The outbreak began in February and is now nearing 200 confirmed cases in the southern part of the province, the Vancouver Sun reported Tuesday.

Dr. Elizabeth Brodkin told the newspaper of the confirmed or suspected cases, about half have never had any vaccinations, and said most of the reasons were religious or philosophical.

"At the moment, there is some evidence that it is moving out of the faith-based communities and into the broader communities," she said. "After all, this is not a trivial disease -- we've had many cases resulting in hospitalizations and complications like deafness, meningitis and testicular involvement, which can cause sterility."

Mumps is spread by saliva droplets, and a common joint vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella is widely effective in controlling the diseases, Brodkin said.