Why is it in the News?

A mumps outbreak has recently been reported in several states across the country, causing concern among public health officials.

What is Mumps Disease?

• Mumps is a contagious disease caused by the mumps virus, which belongs to the paramyxovirus family.
• It typically involves painful swelling in the parotid salivary glands, located on the sides of the face below and in front of the ears.
• These swollen glands often give the infected person a characteristic "chipmunk-cheek" appearance.
• Humans are the only known host for the mumps virus, which is spread via direct contact or by airborne droplets from the upper respiratory tract of infected individuals.
• Transmission of mumps: Mumps is spread through contact with the saliva or respiratory droplets of an infected person. This can happen through coughing, sneezing, kissing, sharing utensils, or close contact.
• Symptoms:
  • Mumps typically manifest after an incubation period of 2 to 4 weeks, starting with nonspecific symptoms like myalgia, headache, malaise, and low-grade fever.
  • Within days, these initial symptoms progress to the swelling of the parotid salivary glands, either unilaterally or bilaterally, with other salivary glands affected in 10% of cases.
• Prevention: The best way to prevent mumps is to get vaccinated with the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine.
  • The MMR vaccine is safe and effective for most people.
• Other preventive measures include practising good hand hygiene, avoiding close contact with sick people, and covering your coughs and sneezes.
• Treatment: There is no specific treatment for mumps. Most people recover on their own within a few weeks.
  • Treatment focuses on relieving symptoms, such as with pain relievers and fever reducers.
• In general, mumps is a mild, self-limiting disease that resolves without lasting effects.
• However, complications can arise, including encephalitis or sensorineural deafness.
• Orchitis, a painful inflammation of the testes, occurs in approximately 20% of young adult males who contract mumps.