The U.S. Public Health Service · Episode 32 of 34 · 30 min
Mumps: The Vaccine From a Child's Throat (1963–2026)
In 1963 vaccine scientist Maurice Hilleman cultured mumps virus from the throat of his own sick five-year-old daughter, Jeryl Lynn, and built a vaccine that still bears her name and nearly erased a leading cause of childhood deafness. The humbling lesson came later, when mumps surged back among young adults who had received both doses, showing that immunity fades. The CDC's advisers recommended a third dose for people at high risk during outbreaks.
Who's who
- Maurice HillemanMerck vaccine scientist who developed the mumps vaccine from his daughter's infection
Timeline
- 1963Hilleman cultures mumps virus from his daughter's throat
- 1967Mumps vaccine (Jeryl Lynn strain) licensed
- 1971Mumps vaccine combined into MMR
- 2006Large Midwest college outbreak among two-dose-vaccinated students
- 2016-2017Renewed large outbreaks, heavily on college campuses
- 2017-2018Advisers recommend a third MMR dose for those at risk during outbreaks
Still debated
The evidence points to waning immunity rather than vaccine failure or a mutating virus. The third dose is recommended only for people at increased risk during an outbreak, and mumps was never declared eliminated in the U.S.