Mumps - Symptoms & Treatment

Also known as infectious or epidemic parotitis, mumps is an acute viral disease caused by a paramyxovirus. It's most prevalent in children older than age 5 but younger than age 9. Infants under age 1 seldom get this disease because of passive immunity from maternal antibodies. Peak incidence occurs during late winter and early spring. The prognosis for complete recovery is good, although mumps sometimes causes complications.

Mumps was common until the mumps vaccine was licensed in 1967. Before the vaccine, more than 200,000 cases occurred each year in the United States. Since then the number of cases has dropped to fewer than 1,000 a year, and epidemics have become fairly rare. As in the prevaccine era, most cases of mumps are still in children ages 5 to 14, but the proportion of young adults who become infected has been rising slowly over the last two decades. Mumps infections are uncommon in children younger than 1 year old.

Causes

The mumps paramyxovirus is found in the saliva of an infected person and is transmitted by droplets or by direct contact. The virus is present in the saliva 6 days before to 9 days after onset of parotid gland swelling; the 48-hour period immediately preceding onset of swelling is probably the time of highest communicability.

The incubation period ranges from 14 to 25 days (the average is 18 days). One attack of mumps (even if unilateral) almost always confers lifelong immunity.

Signs and symptoms

About one in five people infected with the mumps virus have no signs or symptoms. When mumps 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

The primary - and best known - sign of mumps is swollen salivary glands that cause the cheeks to puff out. In fact, the term "mumps" is an old expression for lumps or bumps within the cheeks.

Diagnosis

In mumps, a diagnosis is usually made after the characteristic signs and symptoms develop, especially parotid gland enlargement with a history of exposure to mumps. Serologic antibody testing can verify the diagnosis when parotid or other salivary gland enlargement is absent. If comparison between a blood sample obtained during the acute phase of illness and iplother sample obtained 3 weeks later shows a fourfold rise in antibody titer, the patient most likely had mumps.

Treatment

There is no specific treatment for mumps. Symptoms may be relieved by the application of intermittent ice or heat to the affected neck area and/or acetaminophen for pain relief (do not give aspirin to children with a viral illness because of the risk of Reye's syndrome ). Warm salt water gargles, soft foods, and extra fluids may also help relieve symptoms.

Prevention

Childhood vaccinations against mumps (usually in combination with the measles and rubella) provides immunity for most people. People who have had mumps are immune for life.