Mumps

Mumps is a contagious viral infection that used to be common in children.

It’s most recognisable by the painful swellings located at the side of the face under the ears (the parotid glands), giving a person with mumps a distinctive "hamster face" appearance. Other symptoms include headache, joint pain and a high temperature.See your GP if you suspect that you or your child has mumps. While the infection is not usually serious, mumps share symptoms with more serious types of infection, such as glandular fever and tonsillitis. It is always best to visit your GP so that they can confirm or rule out mumps.

Mumps is spread in the same way as colds and flu: inside infected droplets of saliva that can be inhaled or picked up from surfaces and passed into the mouth or nose.  

A person is most contagious one to two days before the onset of symptoms, and for five days afterwards.

During this time, it is important to try to prevent spreading the infection to others; particularly teenagers and young adults who have not been vaccinated.

Once you have been infected by mumps, you normally develop a life-long immunity to further infection.

The symptoms of mumps usually develop 14 to 25 days after a person is infected with the mumps virus (the incubation period). The average incubation period is around 17 days.

Swelling of the parotid glands is the most common symptom of mumps. The parotid glands are a pair of glands responsible for producing saliva. They are located on either side of your face, just below your ears.

Both glands are usually affected by the swelling, although only one gland can be affected. The swelling can cause pain, tenderness and difficulty with swallowing.

Other symptoms of the mumps include:

• headache
• joint pain
• feeling sick
• dry mouth
• mild abdominal pain
• feeling tired
• loss of appetite
• a high temperature (fever) of 38C (100.4F), or above

There are currently no anti-viral medications that can be used to treat mumps. Treatment is focused on relieving symptoms until your body’s immune system manages to fight off the infection.

The self-care techniques listed below should help.

• Get plenty of bed rest until your symptoms have passed.
• Over-the-counter (OTC) painkillers, such as ibuprofen or paracetamol, can relieve pain (children aged 16 or under should not be given aspirin).
• Drink plenty of fluids, but avoid acidic drinks such as fruit juice as these can irritate your parotid glands. Water is usually the best fluid to drink.
• Applying a cold compress to your swollen glands should help to reduce the pain.
• Eat foods that don't require a lot of chewing, such as soup, mashed potatoes and scrambled eggs.

You can protect your child against mumps by making sure they are given the combined MMR vaccine (mumps, measles and rubella).

The MMR vaccine is part of the routine childhood immunisation schedule. Your child should be given one dose when they are around 12-13 months and a second booster dose before they start school. Once both doses are given, the vaccine provides 95% protection against mumps

Mumps should pass without causing serious damage to a person's health. Serious complications are rare.

However, mumps can lead to viral meningitis if the virus moves into the outer layer of the brain. Other complications include swelling of the testicles in males and the ovaries in females who have gone through puberty.