Mumps
Introduction
Mumps is a viral infection that primarily affects the parotid glands — one of three pairs of salivary glands, located below and in front of your ears. If you or your child contracts mumps, it can cause swelling in one or both parotid glands.
Your odds of contracting mumps aren't very high. Mumps was common until the mumps vaccine was licensed in 1967. Before the vaccine, up to 200,000 cases of mumps occurred each year in the United States. Since then, the number of cases has dropped dramatically.
Outbreaks of mumps still occur in the United States, and mumps is still common in many parts of the world, so getting a vaccination to prevent mumps is important.
Signs and Symptoms
About one in five people infected with the mumps virus have no signs or symptoms. When signs and symptoms do develop, they usually appear about two to three weeks after exposure to the virus and may include:
- Swollen, painful salivary glands on one or both sides of the face
- Pain with chewing or swallowing
- Fever
- Weakness and fatigue
Causes
The cause of mumps is the mumps virus, which spreads easily from person to person through infected saliva. If you're not immune, you can contract mumps by breathing in saliva droplets of an infected person who has just sneezed or coughed. You can also contract mumps from sharing utensils or cups with someone who has mumps. Mumps is about as contagious as the flu.
Complications
Complications of mumps are potentially serious, but rare. These include:
- Orchitis. This inflammatory condition causes swelling of one or both testicles. Orchitis is painful, but it rarely leads to sterility — the inability to father a child.
- Pancreatitis. This is swelling of the pancreas. Signs and symptoms of pancreatitis include pain in the upper abdomen, nausea and vomiting.
- Encephalitis. A viral infection, such as mumps, can lead to inflammation of the brain (encephalitis). Encephalitis can lead to neurologic problems and become life-threatening. Although it's serious, encephalitis is a rare complication of mumps.
- Meningitis. Meningitis is infection and inflammation of the membranes and fluid surrounding your brain and spinal cord. It can occur if the mumps virus spreads through your bloodstream to infect your central nervous system. Like encephalitis, meningitis is a rare complication of mumps.
- Inflammation of the ovaries. Pain in the lower abdomen in women may be a symptom of this problem. Fertility doesn't seem to be affected.
- Hearing loss. In rare cases, mumps can cause hearing loss, usually permanent, in one or both ears.
Treatment
Because mumps is caused by a virus, antibiotics aren't effective. Like most viral illnesses, a mumps infection must simply run its course. Fortunately, most children and adults recover from an uncomplicated case of mumps within two weeks.
Prevention
In general, you're considered immune to mumps if you've previously had the infection or if you've been immunized against mumps.
The mumps vaccine is usually given as a combined measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) inoculation, which contains the safest and most effective form of each vaccine. Two doses of the MMR vaccine are recommended before a child enters school — the first between ages 12 and 15 months, and the second between ages 4 and 6 years.
In response to a mumps outbreak in the Midwest, college students and health care workers in particular are encouraged to make sure they've had two doses of the MMR vaccine. A single dose doesn't appear to offer sufficient protection during an outbreak. Since the recommendation for a second dose didn't begin until the late 1980s or early 1990s, many young adults may not have received their second dose and should have one now .
Informations obtained from National Institute of Health.