Hundreds of students are queuing up to be vaccinated after a mumps outbreak in the region.

The mass vaccination drive is underway on three North-East campuses after what has been described as a "sharp increase" in cases of mumps.

Health officials suspect that the majority of new mumps cases are probably university students.

In response special clinics have been organised at Newcastle, Northumbria and Durham universities.

The universities, which have more than 40,000 students between them have all reported recent mumps cases.

Students are particularly vulnerable to mumps for a number of reasons.

The combined mumps, measles and rubella (MMR) vaccine was not introduced until 1988 so most current students are potentially at risk.

Students also tend to live in fairly close proximity to each other which makes it easier to spread airborne diseases like mumps.

The sudden increase in the North-East in recent weeks follows a wave of mumps cases in other university cities, including Leeds, Manchester and Nottingham.

Latest regional figures show that in the week beginning November 12 61 cases of mumps were reported to the Health Protection Agency.

Dr Kirsty Foster, consultant in public health at Newcastle Primary Care Trust said: "Newcastle Primary Care Trust and the Health Protection Agency, have teamed up with both the University of Newcastle and Northumbria University to offer MMR vaccinations to undergraduate students under the age of 30.

"This follows a sharp increase last week in the number of young people diagnosed by their GP with mumps. We believe that the majority of these people are students.

"Mumps causes fever, headaches and painful swollen glands but in some cases it can cause infertility in men, deafness, inflammation of the ovaries and testicles.

"We would therefore recommend all undergraduates to take advantage of the free special clinics which have been organised." The total regional figure so far this year is far lower than 2003, when we had 544 mumps cases, more than the combined total for Wales during the same period.

Dr Tricia Cresswell, director of public health for Durham and Chester-le-Street Primary Care Trust, said: "We are working with Durham University to offer MMR vaccinations to all undergraduate students and residential postgraduate students in Durham City."

Teesside and Sunderland universities have no current mumps cases.

York University ran a special precautionary MMR vaccination clinic last week, although there are reported cases.