Mumps

Mumps is called “chipmunk cheeks” because it changes the look of the jaw, and this condition causes tiring and annoying symptoms, but it rarely leads to serious complications due to the vaccines.

Mumps

Mumps, or parotitis, is an inflammation in the salivary glands that are located on both sides of the face, between the ear and jaw. Mumps used to be a very common disease among children before the vaccine, and it mostly affected children between the ages of 2 and 12 years old.

Mumps could affect teenagers and adults even if they were vaccinated, and that might occur due to a weakness in the immune system with aging.

Causes of mumps

• Mumps occur due to the parotitis virus, and this virus transmits among people through direct contact with the patient’s saliva or their respiratory discharges, such as the droplets that come out when sneezing and coughing.
• Mumps virus could also be transmitted by using things or touching surfaces that are contaminated with the patient’s discharges.
• The risk of mumps increases in people with weak immunity, who didn’t get the mumps vaccine, and who live in close quarters.

Symptoms of mumps

The symptoms manifest within 2-3 weeks after being infected with the mumps virus. The person becomes contagious a few days before the swelling of the salivary glands until 5 days after the swelling.

Some people might have mild symptoms or not have any symptoms at all. In general, the symptoms of mumps include the following:

• Mild symptoms include fever, tiredness, loss of appetite, body aches, and headache.
• After that, the salivary glands begin to swell on one or both sides of the face, and it causes a pain that might be extreme.
• In certain cases, the glands below the floor of the mouth might swell.

Complications of mumps

The complications of mumps often occur in people who weren’t vaccinated, and some of them are:

• Swollen testicles in males and swollen ovaries in females.
• Meningitis.
• Encephalitis.
• Pancreatitis.
• Thyroiditis.
• Arthritis.
• Hair loss, which often improves after recovery.
• Miscarriage.

Diagnosis of mumps

• A saliva sample and blood tests in some cases.

Treatment of mumps

• There isn’t a specific treatment for mumps, and only symptoms are managed by resting, drinking fluids, and painkillers.
• Prevention is mainly through mumps vaccination.
• It’s recommended to isolate the patient until recovery to protect other people from getting infected.