MORE than two-thirds of students at Widnes and Runcorn Sixth Form College have received a mumps vaccination following a suspected outbreak of the disease.

Vaccination sessions were held from December 15-16, during which time 822 people received the jab, representing 69% of the students registered at the college.

The mass inoculation programme, organised jointly by the college and Halton Primary Care Trust, targeted 16 to 25-year-olds, who are most at risk.

Health experts say mumps is a particular danger to that age group because they were unlikely to have been exposed to mumps at an early age and will not have received the MMR vaccine.

The disease can have serious consequences for older patients - inflammation of the ovaries and testicles can occur, as well as viral meningitis.

A college spokeswoman said: 'Health staff commented that the college worked hard to ensure that information was given to the students at an early stage and the vaccination sessions were well organised at both campuses so that disruption was kept to a minimum.'

The college is urging any students who missed the vaccinations to seek advice from their GP.

Vice-principal Jim Ormandy told the Weekly News that five students and one staff member at the Cronton campus were taken ill with suspected mumps. He believed they had contracted the suspected virus while attending a residential course in North Wales.

Letters were immediately sent to all 1,200 students who attend the campuses in Widnes and Runcorn urging them to attend the vaccination sessions.

And a wider warning was sent to people in their mid-to-late teens and early 20s saying they should check whether they have been vaccinated.

Halton Primary Care Trust is planning a major vaccination programme for next spring as a long-term protection measure.

Mumps is caused by a virus which usually spreads through saliva and affects many parts of the body including parotid salivary glands at the back of each cheek, which swell and become painful.

Research shows the number of adults becoming infected has risen steadily during the past 20 years despite the majority of cases still occurring in the 5-14 age group. Once a person has recovered from the disease they gain a lifelong natural immunity which prevents further infection.

Symptoms may also include a high temperature, headache and loss of appetite. In a limited number of cases other salivary glands than the parotid may be affected, causing swelling under the tongue and jaw and in the chest.

Direct swelling of the brain has also been known to occur as well as meningitis, which is the swelling of the membrane around the brain.