MUMPS is a horrendous illness and can lead to infertility in men. But some parents still insist they will not have their children vaccinated with the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) jab.

Following a controversial report in 1998, which suggested a link between the triple vaccine and autism and bowel disease, the take up rate of the vaccine plummeted and we are now paying the price.

Essex has seen the biggest rise in mumps cases in the eastern region in the first six months of this year.

Between January and July, 151 people were confirmed as having contracted the highly-contagious virus.

In the East of England, the number of cases surged from 136 in the whole of 2008 to 467 between January to July 2009 alone. About 73 per cent of those affected were aged between 15 and 24 – the age group whose parents chose not to give them the vaccine.

Debbie Saban, who works on immunisation and screening at NHS North East Essex warned: “Mumps is a very unpleasant disease. It can cause an inflammation of the testes in boys and in the ovaries of girls. People with mumps get swollen glands in the throat, temperature, headaches and feel very poorly. A person with mumps can be contagious even before they show symptoms.

“Many parents think these are childhood illnesses and children will get over them, but measles, mumps and rubella can leave very nasty, long-term effects.

”We know measles can kill. Rubella has a nasty habit of affecting unborn babies and the complications arising from mumps are major concerns, such as infertility in men.”

The rapid increase and spread of mumps, as highlighted by recent figures, are mainly down to large concentrations of people aged between 15 and 24 at places like universities and colleges.

Debbie said the health authorities expect some sort of outbreak at this time of year.

“We see a peak in mumps around university sites,” said Debbie.

“Mumps is highly contagious, especially through kissing.”

Normally, children aged about 13 months old receive the first MMR jab, with the second dose given between the ages of two and five,so by the time a child reaches school age, they are fully vaccinated against the three main illnesses.

A catch-up campaign by the Department of Health to inoculate the children who missed out on the triple vaccine because they had already started school was run in the late 1990s, with a second campaign four years ago.

But by this time, the children are teenagers and they actively choose whether they want to be vaccinated or not, said Debbie, which leads to whole sections of that age group going unprotected.

Currently one in four children starting school have been vaccinated with the MMR jab, an increase on this time last year when the uptake was one in five. But this figure needs to remain high for instances of mumps to go down in the future.

But for now students, including overseas students, at Essex University, should get the jab if they are not sure if they are immunised, said Debbie.