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Children's Health
Mumps
Mumps is an infectious
inflammatory viral disease caused by the paramyxovirus. It occurs mainly in children
between the ages of 5 and 15. The virus is contagious for about a week before
the disease breaks out and is spread by airborne droplets from the nose or throat.
The disease is charecterised by swelling in the parotid salivary glands, which
lie in the cheeks just in front of the ears on one side of the face. The virus
can also effect other salivary glands, kidneys, thyroid gland, pancreas, sexual
glands and meninges of the brain and spinal cord.
Symptoms
Incubation period is 2-3 weeks before symptoms
start to appear. Symptoms include
Mumps begins with
temperature and discomfort for the first two days followed by swelling of the
gland. The swelling may be confined to one side or spread to the other side of
the face. After three to four days or more the swelling subsides but remains infectious
until the glands have returned to normal.
Diagnosis
Usually the diagnosis is done based on the symptoms.
Adverse
effects
Usually Mumps is a part of growing up for children. Complications
may arise especially in adults and youngsters past puberty. In adult men the disease
may infect the testicles (orchitis) causing swelling, pain, soreness in the testicles
and a higher temperature and in rare cases cause can cause infertility. Some women
develop inflammation of the ovaries (oophoritis) but it doesn't effect fertility.
Other rare complications may include Inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis)
and inflammation of the membranes of the brain and spinal cord (meningitis) three
to ten days after the onset of Mumps. Pancreatitis can cause vomiting and nausea
leading to dehydration.
Treatment
There is no specific
treatment other than bed rest, drinking plenty of fluids and keeping the child
isolated from others to prevent infection. Acidic foods and drinks like fruit
juices should be avoided and food should be soft to make swallowing easy.
For
orchitis in adult men, icepacks are applied to relieve pain in the testes and
corticosteroids may be prescribed by the doctor. Meningitis which is a serious
disease require appropriate treatment in hospital.
Mumps can be prevented
by immunization. The mumps vaccine is part of the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella)
vaccine series given to children beginning at 12 months of age. This vaccine gives
lifelong immunity against Mumps.
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