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Mumps

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Mumps
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Mumps

An acute (sudden, shortlived) viral illness that usually presents with inflammation of the salivary glands, particularly the parotid glands. A child with mumps often looks like a chipmunk with a full mouth due to the swelling of the parotids (the salivary glands near the ears).

Mumps can also cause inflammation of other tissues, most frequently the covering and substance of the central nervous system (meningoencephalitis), the pancreas (pancreatitis) and, after adolescence, the ovary (oophoritis) and the testis (orchitis). The testis is particularly susceptible to damage from mumps; the damage can lead to infertility.

Together with the likes of measles and chickenpox, mumps was once considered one of the inevitable infectious diseases of childhood. Since a mumps vaccine became available in 1967, the incidence of mumps has declined in the U.S., but there are still many underimmunized populations (for example, more blacks than whites have not yet been immunized).

Treatment is with rest and non-aspirin pain relievers to ease pain in swollen areas. Rarely, mumps can cause a form of meningitis, in which case hospitalization may be needed. Prevention is by immunization with the vaccine.

The origin of the word mumps is not clear. It may have to do with the English usage, now obsolete, of "mump" to mean a grimace. More probably, mumps comes from a colder climate, Iceland, where mumpa meant to fill the mouth too full.

Symptoms of mumps usually appear within two weeks of exposure to the virus. Flu-like symptoms may be the first to appear, including:

fatigue
body aches
headache
loss of appetite
low-grade fever
A high fever of 103°F (39°C) and swelling of the salivary glands follow over the next few days. The glands may not all swell at once. More commonly, they swell and become painful periodically. You are most likely to pass the mumps virus to another person from the time you come into contact with the virus to when your parotid glands swell.

Call the doctor and go to your hospital's emergency department if your child develops these conditions:

Dehydrated and unable to keep any fluids down
Continuing vomiting
Lethargic (weak and listless)
Pain or a stiff neck
Abdominal pain
Enlarged and painful

https://www.medicinenet.com
https://www.healthline.com/

Mumps

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