MUMPS VACCINATION IN THE FINNISH DEFENSE FORCES1

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Abstract
Penttinen, K., (Univ. of Helsinki, Helsinki 25, Finland), K. Cantell, P. Somer and A. Poikolainen. Mumps vaccination in the Finnish Defense Forces. Amer. J. Epid., 1968, 88: 234–244.—Inactivated mumps vaccine has been routinely used in the Finnish Defense Forces since 1960. By the end of 1966, over 200, 000 servicemen (about 95%) had received two injections of the vaccine in the beginning of their 8 to 11 months' service. No complications were seen except for a few local reactions. The seroconversion rate as measured by the complement fixation test varied between 73 and 92% in different years. The mean incidence of mumps during 1955–1959 was 31 per thousand; the corresponding figure for 1961–1966 was 1.9, a 94% reduction. Before the vaccination period the number of mumps cases in the forces was about 10% of the reported number of mumps cases in the whole country. After the vaccination was started the corresponding percentage decreased more than tenfold. An analysis of the mumps cases occurring during the vaccination period revealed that 1) non-vaccinated men contracted mumps about ten-times more frequently than the vaccinees, 2) men from rural areas had mumps about twice as often as men from urban areas, 3) the highest incidence of mumps occurred during the first month of the service, i.e., before the vaccination was completed, 4) the frequency of orchitis as a complication of mumps was 2–3 times lower among the vaccinees than among nonvaccinated men, 5) the orchitis rate was 25 times lower among the vaccinees than among nonvaccinated men. Military service constitutes a risk period as far as mumps and its complications are concerned. It appears that the risk can be safely and effectively reduced by the inactivated mumps vaccine.

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