TORONTO - Officials of the National Hockey League and the general public may find it unexpected to see chipmunk-cheeked hockey stars who have contracted mumps.
[b]Authentic Tristan Jarry Jersey[/b] . But to public health experts, an outbreak in this setting is not surprising, given the ages of the athletes and the conditions under which they play.At least five NHL teams have reported 15 players who have contracted the mumps virus. The most high profile is Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, captured in photographs with one swollen cheek. Late Tuesday, the Penguins confirmed forward Beau Bennett is also infected.Teams have been scrambling to get their players revaccinated against the virus. Its a smart move; mumps outbreaks can last for months if the virus gets into a group of susceptible people.Given that theyre going to continue to be exposed to each other with their very busy schedule, this could fester for a while, Dr. Greg Wallace, a mumps expert from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, said Tuesday of the NHL outbreak. Vaccinating NHL teams should help to shorten the length of this outbreak. But it takes several weeks for the vaccine to generate a good antibody response, and the vaccine doesnt protect in 100 per cent of cases.As well, the incubation period of the disease is long — 12 to 25 days. So there could be players now who are infected but unaware of that fact, meaning more players could be sidelined with mumps over the next three weeks. The mumps virus can cause inflammation in the salivary glands found in the cheek, under the tongue or under the jawbone, leading to the characteristic facial swelling. Both sides of the face can be affected, but it isnt uncommon to see only one side puff up.The once common viral disease infected most people in childhood before a mumps vaccine was introduced in the early 1970s.The use of vaccine has reduced the number of mumps cases in Canada by about 99 per cent, said Dr. Gaston De Serres, an infectious diseases expert with Quebecs provincial public health agency.But sporadic outbreaks continue to be recorded. A large epidemic occurred in 2006 and 2007; the outbreak, which began in Nova Scotia, eventually stretched to all 10 provinces, though several had fewer than two dozen cases. The total for that outbreak was 1,284, 777 of them in Nova Scotia.Contemporary outbreaks often happen in groups of people who have close interactions. University campuses have been the site or source of many outbreaks in recent years, said Dr. Bonnie Henry, British Columbias deputy provincial health officer.The virus is spread through saliva droplets, so activities like kissing or sharing a cigarette or marijuana joint can propel the virus through groups of students, she said.Its easy to see the opportunities for spread among hockey players. In fact, Dr. Shelley Deeks of Public Health Ontario agreed hockey provides a perfect scenario for spread of the mumps virus. There are the cramped quarters on the bench and in the locker-room. The shared water bottles. Players coughing or gasping to recover their breath after the exertion of a breakaway or a busy shift. The nose-to-nose jostling that can be the foreplay of a fight.Youve got this group of people who are relatively susceptible given their age and then you introduce a virus into that population, said Deeks, who is the Ontario agencys medical director for immunization and vaccine preventable disease.But why are the NHLers relatively susceptible? After all, they are of an age where they were likely vaccinated against mumps in childhood. And any — like Crosby — who played in the Sochi Olympics earlier this year were likely given a booster dose of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine — though the concern heading to Sochi was measles, not mumps.Anyone born before 1970 is assumed to have had mumps in childhood because the virus circulated routinely then. And even those born between 1970 and 1980 are thought to have pretty good protection. They would have received a dose of vaccine, but they may too have gotten the mumps — the virus still circulated during that time.After 1980, though, mumps became rarer as the effect of vaccination programs took hold, Deeks explained.But in the early days of mumps vaccination, it was thought one dose would suffice to immunize children for life. Later it became apparent that wasnt true and a two-dose regimen was adopted in Canada around 1997, Henry said.Even at two doses, the mumps vaccine is not the most effective vaccine on the market. During a 2011 outbreak in British Columbia, about five per cent of the 132 cases were people who had received two doses of vaccine.Its not a perfect vaccine. And there are some people who will have two doses and will still get sick with it. If theyve been exposed and theyve had a high level of exposure, then they may not have enough antibody to protect them, Henry said.Wallace said two doses of mumps vaccine protect about 88 per cent of people from the mumps virus. So its easy to imagine if youve got 100 players and staff who are basically constantly together during the season, that if theyre all exposed you could potentially see 10, 12, 15 getting it.But keep in mind todays hockey players are from the cohort that typically received only one vaccination. At one dose, the vaccine is thought to protect between 60 and 90 per cent of people, Henry said.Containing a mumps outbreak can be tough. Wallace said an infected person is contagious a day or two before he or she shows symptoms of being ill. That means you can isolate a hockey player once you know he has mumps. But by then he may have already spread the virus to a teammate or an opponent.Also, the severity of symptoms varies, with some people showing few or barely any symptoms. Wallace said it is not known if people with very mild mumps are as contagious as people with more severe symptoms.In addition to the swelling of salivary glands, mumps can cause inflammation in the testicles in post-pubescent males, the breast tissue of pubescent girls and the ovaries of females past puberty, De Serres said.Orchitis — the swelling of one or both testicles — happens in about one-third of mumps cases in adult males, he said.Many people believe mumps that involve orchitis can lead to infertility. But that is rarely true. Its something that people talk about, but its impact on fertility, its not big, said Wallace. In some cases, mumps can lead to permanent deafness — generally in one ear, on the side where swelling occurred. It can also trigger meningitis — inflammation of the membranes of the brain and spinal cord — and on rare occasions, encephalitis, which is inflammation of the brain.But the complication rates tend to be lower among people who have been vaccinated.
[b]Cheap Pittsburgh Penguins Gear[/b] . Huntelaar also had a penalty saved by Wolfsburg goalkeeper Diego Benaglio. The two goals brought Huntelaars total for the season to 18, level with Bayern Munichs Mario Gomez for most in the league.
[b]Cheap Adidas Pittsburgh Penguins Jerseys[/b] . The agreement comes a little more than one week after the video game manufacturer agreed to a $40 million settlement in a similar but separate case, bringing the total payout planned for athletes to $60 million, said Steve Berman, an attorney for the plaintiffs, and the NCAA.ORLANDO, Fla. - As further proof the NFL never is far from the headlines, owners could make plenty of news this week at their spring meetings. They will consider 13 playing rules proposals and seven bylaws. They will discuss expanding the playoff field from 12 to 14 teams, although a vote on such a move is uncertain. Some changes would seem to be slam dunks: extending the height of the goal posts 5 feet to help determine if kicks are good; eliminating overtime in preseason games; placing fixed TV cameras on the goal lines, end lines and sidelines to help with replay reviews. Others seem almost sidebars to the real action, such as from where to enforce defensive penalties when they occur behind the line of scrimmage, or extending pass interference calls to within a yard of the line. Perhaps the juiciest suggestions came from the Patriots. They want to move the line of scrimmage to the 25 for extra points, and to allow coaches to challenge any calls except on scoring plays, which are automatically reviewed. Passing those proposals would make for a major change in how NFL games are played. "We discussed a lot of different scenarios that have been raised," Rams coach Jeff Fisher, co-chairman of the influential competition committee, said of longer extra-point kicks. "I will point out ... last year we had five tries missed (out of 1,267). I think four were blocked, one was missed. Its still a competitive play. "We are going to propose ... to the membership during one of the preseason weeks that we move the extra point back to the 20-yard line and see how that goes. Its on our radar." New Englands idea on coaches challenges in some ways echoes college football, in which every play can be reviewed. Falcons President Rich McKay, the other co-chairman of the competition committee, said reviews or challenges on defensive pass interference calls have been considered before. "Weve always shied away, as a committee, from penalties and the review of penalties for thee most basic reason," McKay said.
[b]Authentic Brian Dumoulin Jersey[/b]. "We didnt want to put the referee in the position of using his subjective judgment on a play in place of the on-field official. We always thought the intent of replay, when it was put back in in 1998, was to deal with plays where there was an objective standard." Washington has proposed making personal foul penalties reviewable. How replay reviews are conducted overall will be discussed after the committee has proposed allowing the referee to consult with members of the NFL officiating department. The process wont change, but the command centre in New York headed by director of officiating Dean Blandino will already be reviewing the play when the referee gets to the replay monitor. "At the end of the day, whats going to happen is were going to make sure that every single review is correct and we feel like this will speed up the instant replay process and timing," Fisher said. The Redskins want kickoffs moved to the 40 yard-line for "safety and historic consistency," although doing so might totally eliminate returns. But some coaches hint it could lead to more pooch kicks, which wouldnt make the kickoff any safer. Another suggestion is to eliminate stopping the clock on a sack. That no longer is done in the final two minutes of each half, and if passed it will be totally eliminated. The Redskins also proposed raising the number of active players on game day from 46 to 49 for games on any day but Sunday or Monday — not including opening weekend. Washington seeks an increase in the practice squad limit from eight to 10 players; allowing trades after the Super Bowl until when the league year begins in March; eliminating the first preseason roster cut to 75 and having just one cut to 53 at the end of the preseason; and allowing more than one player to return from injured reserve during the season after six weeks on the list. ___ AP NFL website:
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