Flyers Taking Precautions Against Mumps Outbreak Hitting NHL Teams
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Philadelphia Flyers are defending… themselves… against an outbreak of mumps in the NHL.
No members of the Flyers have come down with the mumps, but eleven players on four NHL teams have had the contagious disease since the season started.
Two New Jersey Devils, in fact, sat out last night's loss to the Flyers because they had the mumps.
Flyers' GM Ron Hextall says his players have been offered vaccinations.
"We've talked about it. We've addressed some things. We've got it covered as much as we can. Clean buildings and wash your hands and vaccines and everything else you can do. We've done everything we can do to protect our players and our staff," he tells KYW Newsradio.
Mumps hasn't been seen much in the US since childhood vaccines began in the 1960s. But the CDC notes that the vaccines are not 100-percent effective.
It can take up to two weeks to recover from the headache, fever, and swollen glands the mumps can cause.
