Hanley Cullen skeptically picked up a stray solo cup off the ground at Mill Fest because she didn’t think too much bad could come of it.
But, after this year’s rager on Mill Street, she found herself at Hudson Health Clinic with a 103-degree fever and a throat so swollen she couldn’t eat.
“The pain was absolutely unbearable,” Cullen, a freshman who has not declared a major, said. “I had to go home for a week.”
Athens City-County Health Commissioner Dr. James Gaskell said that an uptick in viruses throughout fest season isn’t uncommon considering how often students abstain from sleep, smoke cigarettes and share saliva throughout the spring weekends.
Gaskell is concerned about cases of mumps surfacing during fest season, especially considering the currently outbreak of mumps in Columbus, where more than 100 cases have been reported. There’s one unconfirmed case of mumps in Athens, which is still under investigation, Gaskell said.
“I would not be surprised if we started to see mumps here at all, considering the fest season,” Gaskell said. “Hopefully we don’t, considering we’re not that far from summer.”
Cullen was diagnosed with mononucleosis, or mono, a virus transmitted through saliva that can last up to several weeks and leaves the infected person feeling fatigued, sore and feverish. Cullen was also warned that her spleen could swell, which she said she feels often as “pressure,” and was advised to abstain from physical activity.
“I might still work out,” Cullen said.
The Ohio Department of Health does not track cases of mononucleosis, according to its website, and Gaskell said that’s because there are rarely outbreaks. Most people contract the virus that causes mono, the Epstein-Barr virus, when they’re children and are never properly diagnosed, he said. Once they’ve contracted the virus, they’re immune.
“We only see mono sporadically,” Gaskell said. “It’s hard to tell if there are any trends.
“But we do see an increase in incidence with college-aged kids, just because they’re up late at night and they’re sharing close spaces.”
Kari Swain Davison, communications coordinator for Holzer Health System, said she also hasn’t noticed any particular trend and that the exact potential for transmission among students is “virtually impossible” to figure out.
“We should all rely on good standard precautions and routine hand washing to break the chain of infection,” Davison said. “As with anything, when you expose yourself to other people’s blood or body fluid, there is a chance that if an illness is present, it can be transmitted.”
Gaskell said he is far less worried about viruses like mono or the flu, because they’re easy to treat and generally do not cause complications. But fest season could have attracted Ohio State University students who brought with them the mumps, which is prominent now near OSU’s campus in Columbus.
Davison said that Holzer Health System has not seen any cases of mumps yet. Representatives from O’Bleness Memorial Hospital did not respond for comment by press time.
For now, Cullen said she’s happy she’s feeling well enough to attend classes and enjoy the weather, though she said she knows other friends and classmates who are now coming down with mono.
“I’m still going to go to 12Fest,” she said. “I was sad I had to miss out on the others.”
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Fast Facts:
Mumps: Viral infection that infects the parotoid glands, which are salivary glands, and can cause swelling. Symptoms include pain swallowing or eating, fever, swollen and painful salivary glands, fatigue, and headache.
Mono: Virus that is transmitted through saliva. Symptoms include fatigue, sore throat, fever, swollen lymph nodes, swollen tonsils, headache, rash, swollen spleen.
