By AP/KWMU
Edwardsville, Ill – Five students at Edwardsville High School will not be in school for the next two weeks because they were not immunized after one of their fellow classmates was diagnosed with the mumps.
Superintendent Ed Hightower says they could be contagious.
In previous years, Illinois has reported about ten cases of mumps a year.
Last year the number of reported cases in the state was about six-hundred. That was partly because there were outbreaks at several colleges.
The viral infection is spread by respiratory droplets, saliva or contaminated surfaces.