Mumps is a contagious viral disease, caused by the myxo virus, which has plagued the human race for centuries. The most common symptoms of mumps include headache, fever, loss of appetite, and swelling of the parotid and other glands. These symptoms are not usually serious, but mumps can cause some serious complications. Approximately 20-30% of infected people do not have any symptoms of mumps at all, and they are not aware that they even have the disease.
Mumps is transmitted by airborne means or through direct contact with infected droplets or saliva, which are ejected from the body during coughing and sneezing.
Mumps is a fairly contagious disease, about as contagious as influenza and rubella, but less contagious than highly contagious diseases like measles or chickenpox.
Mumps can be transmitted to other people from about 3 days before symptoms appear to around 4 days after they subside. However, the virus has been isolated from saliva as early as 7 days before the onset of symptoms and as late as 9 days after subsidence of symptoms.
The mumps virus, the myxo virus, replicates in the nasopharynx and lymph nodes of the infected person.
Serious complications of mumps are more common among adults than among children.
Women may be at risk for spontaneous abortions if they get mumps during the first trimester of pregnancy, and they may also suffer pain in their ovaries.
Almost half of adolescent or adult men who have mumps experience painful swelling of the testicles, called orchitis. Sterility can also occur, but this is very rare.
Some of the rare complications that can be caused by mumps include an infection of the brain (encephalitis), and inflammation of the covering of the brain and spinal cord (meningitis). Other rare complications caused by mumps include arthritis, kidney and pancreas problems, deafness, and inflammation of the thyroid gland.
These complications can have very serious consequences. If you suspect the onset of any of these complications, then seek immediate medical advice and treatment.
