BY CATRIONA GALLEN

MUMPS cases in young adults are on the increase with 15 cases recorded in the Finn Valley area since October last.

The HSE West Department of Public Health Medicine in Donegal has noted that there has been a significant rise in the number of teens and young adults suffering from mumps, particularly in Ballybofey, Killygordon, Castlefin and Lifford areas, since the beginning of January. Last year only 44 cases were reported in the whole of the North West, which includes, Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim.

Mumps is spread in saliva or in the tiny droplets of fluid when someone coughs or sneezes. People with mumps are infectious from up to seven days before and up to ten days after the glands first start to swell.

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