Mumps
An acute viral illness that was at one time a common childhood disease, featuring swollen and inflamed salivary glands on one or both sides of the face or under the jaw. In 1968 there were 152,000 mumps cases; today only a few thousand patients a year get mumps.
Before the mumps vaccine was developed, almost every child got mumps sometime in childhood. While the incidence of the disease is much lower today, an unimmunized child remains at high risk for getting mumps. The disease is still widely found in developing countries, which is why anyone over age one should have a vaccine before traveling abroad.
Cause
Mumps is spread by airborne droplets of the mumps virus that are expelled by an infected patient who is coughing, sneezing, or talking. The virus invades and multiplies in the parotid gland.
Symptoms
The disease will appear two to three weeks after exposure, beginning with mild discomfort in the area just inside the angle of the jaw. Many infected children have no symptoms. In more serious cases, however, the child complains of pain and has difficulty chewing; the glands on one or both sides become painful and tender. Fever, headache, and swallowing problems may follow, but the fever falls after two to three days and the swelling fades within 10 days. When only one side is affected, the second gland often swells as the first one subsides.
Diagnosis
Mumps is usually diagnosed from symptoms; it can be confirmed by culturing the virus from saliva or urine, or by measuring antibodies to mumps virus in the blood. The skin test for mumps is considered unreliable and is no longer available.
Treatment
While there is no treatment, a patient may be given painkillers and plenty of fluids. In moderate to severe cases the child may need to stay in bed. Boys with a testicular involvement may be given a stronger painkiller; corticosteroid drugs may be needed to reduce inflammation.
Complications
While mumps is normally considered to be a mild disease, sometimes it can be more serious, causing a mild inflammation of the covering of the brain and spinal cord (MENINGITIS) in about one in every 10 children with mumps. More rarely, it can cause an inflammation of the brain itself (ENCEPHALITIS), which usually improves by itself without causing permanent brain damage.
Prevention
All healthy children who have never had mumps should be immunized at about 15 months with the MMR vaccine. If in doubt, it is safe to be immunized or reimmunized against mumps. The vaccine is available by itself, in combination with measles and rubella (MMR), or with rubella alone (MR). Typically, the combination MMR vaccine is given at 15 months of age because it protects a child against all three diseases. The vaccination has been used since 1967 and is very effective. One injection produces long-lasting immunity. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, in very rare cases the mumps vaccine produces a mild, brief fever, which may occur a week or two after the vaccination. Occasionally there is some slight swelling of the throat glands. Serious reactions are extremely rare.
Anyone with a severely impaired immune system, a severe allergy to eggs, or anyone with a high fever or who has received blood products in the preceding three months, should not receive the mumps virus vaccine.
Before the mumps vaccine was developed, almost every child got mumps sometime in childhood. While the incidence of the disease is much lower today, an unimmunized child remains at high risk for getting mumps. The disease is still widely found in developing countries, which is why anyone over age one should have a vaccine before traveling abroad.
Cause
Mumps is spread by airborne droplets of the mumps virus that are expelled by an infected patient who is coughing, sneezing, or talking. The virus invades and multiplies in the parotid gland.
Symptoms
The disease will appear two to three weeks after exposure, beginning with mild discomfort in the area just inside the angle of the jaw. Many infected children have no symptoms. In more serious cases, however, the child complains of pain and has difficulty chewing; the glands on one or both sides become painful and tender. Fever, headache, and swallowing problems may follow, but the fever falls after two to three days and the swelling fades within 10 days. When only one side is affected, the second gland often swells as the first one subsides.
Diagnosis
Mumps is usually diagnosed from symptoms; it can be confirmed by culturing the virus from saliva or urine, or by measuring antibodies to mumps virus in the blood. The skin test for mumps is considered unreliable and is no longer available.
Treatment
While there is no treatment, a patient may be given painkillers and plenty of fluids. In moderate to severe cases the child may need to stay in bed. Boys with a testicular involvement may be given a stronger painkiller; corticosteroid drugs may be needed to reduce inflammation.
Complications
While mumps is normally considered to be a mild disease, sometimes it can be more serious, causing a mild inflammation of the covering of the brain and spinal cord (MENINGITIS) in about one in every 10 children with mumps. More rarely, it can cause an inflammation of the brain itself (ENCEPHALITIS), which usually improves by itself without causing permanent brain damage.
Prevention
All healthy children who have never had mumps should be immunized at about 15 months with the MMR vaccine. If in doubt, it is safe to be immunized or reimmunized against mumps. The vaccine is available by itself, in combination with measles and rubella (MMR), or with rubella alone (MR). Typically, the combination MMR vaccine is given at 15 months of age because it protects a child against all three diseases. The vaccination has been used since 1967 and is very effective. One injection produces long-lasting immunity. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, in very rare cases the mumps vaccine produces a mild, brief fever, which may occur a week or two after the vaccination. Occasionally there is some slight swelling of the throat glands. Serious reactions are extremely rare.
Anyone with a severely impaired immune system, a severe allergy to eggs, or anyone with a high fever or who has received blood products in the preceding three months, should not receive the mumps virus vaccine.
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