Mumps

Overview

Mumps is a contagious viral infection that primarily affects the salivary glands. It spreads through respiratory droplets, such as those produced by coughing, talking or sneezing. While most people recover fully, mumps can cause serious complications, especially in adults including encephalitis and meningitis.

Symptoms that an individual can experience include fever, headache, muscle aches, and swollen salivary glands. Various treatment options are available, including hydration, taking non-aspirin medications and eating easy-to-chew foods. However, vaccination with the MMR vaccine is the most effective way to prevent mumps.

What are Mumps?

Mumps is a contagious disease that is caused by a virus called paramyxovirus. This disease mostly affects children and is highly preventable with the MMR vaccine. It spreads easily through direct contact with infected saliva or by airborne droplets from the upper respiratory tract.

The disease may take 2 to 3 weeks to appear after an individual is exposed to the virus. It starts with mild symptoms, including fever, fatigue, and headache, leading to severe inflammation in parotitis (salivary glands).

Symptoms of Mumps

The symptoms of mumps do not appear right away, and the first symptoms are often mild. There is an inclination period of 7 - 25 days, where an individual can experience mild symptoms including

• appetite loss
• fatigue
• muscle aches
• fever
• headache

Following that, an individual can experience painful inflammation of their parotid glands, also known as parotitis.

The most distinctive mumps signs can look like chipmunk cheeks, where both sides of the cheeks puff up and the jaw swells. An adult or adolescent can have their organs, such as ovaries, brains, pancreas and testicles affected by mumps. However, in a child, the common severe symptoms include seizures, vomiting, confusion, severe headache, stiff neck, stomach pain and high fever.

This disease can also cause other serious complications such as meningitis, deafness, arthritis, encephalitis, orchitis, pancreatitis, oophoritis and thyroiditis. While having mumps during pregnancy is often benign, it can rarely lead to birth defects, miscarriage, low birth weight, premature birth and foetal death.

Causes of Mumps

Paramyxovirus, the mumps virus, causes the disease. It spreads from one individual to another through respiratory droplets from the infected person's throat, nose or mouth or direct contact with infected bodily fluids. The mumps virus is thereby already by coughing, sneezing or talking.

Sharing toys, utensils or other objects containing infected saliva can also spread the disease. Additionally, kissing, dancing or playing sports involving close contact with the infected
person also raises the risk.

Individuals travelling internationally, having weakened immune systems, not vaccinated against mumps or living on college campuses are at a higher risk of getting mumps.

Diagnosis of Mumps

A physical examination is followed by a medical expert asking about the child's symptoms. The doctor may be able to diagnose mumps based on the child's swollen salivary glands. Following that, the score may ask for a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to diagnose the disease. In this test, the inside of a child's throat or cheek is swabbed to collect their mucus sample. It is then examined for identifying the mumps virus. A blood test also helps to rule out other viruses and health conditions that can cause parotitis.

Treatment for Mumps

There are no specific treatments for mumps as the disease disappears on its own within a few weeks. However, the treatment plans that a doctor may include are aimed at alleviating the patient's symptoms and helping them live comfortably with the condition.

This includes hydration, gargling with warm salt water, limiting acidic foods that can water one's mouth, eating soft and easy-to-chew foods, and taking non-aspirin medications (ibuprofen and acetaminophen).

A doctor may also advise placing heat or ice packs on a child's swollen glands or sucking on an ice pop to soothe a sore throat. Children with mumps are recommended to not take aspirin as it can develop Reye’s syndrome, a fatal disease that leads to liver failure, brain inflammation and death.

Prevention of Mumps

The effectiveness of the mumps vaccine helps to prevent the disease. This vaccine protects against mumps, measles and rubella. This measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine is given in two doses in children as a part of the childhood immunisation schedule. The first dose is given between the age of 12 - 15 months, whereas the second dose is between 4 - 6 years of age.

Myths and Facts Related to Mumps

Here are some of the myths and facts about mumps:

Myth 1: Mumps is a Mild and Harmless Illness
Fact: While mumps can be mild in some cases, it can lead to serious complications, especially in adults including meningitis, encephalitis, and infertility in men.

Myth 2: Only Children Get Mumps
Fact: Any individual can get mumps, regardless of age. However, outbreaks often occur in crowded settings such as college campuses and military bases.

Myth 3: The Mumps Vaccine is Dangerous to Health
Fact: The mumps, measles, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is safe and effective. It has significantly reduced the number of mumps cases worldwide.