Mumps is a disease caused by a virus that usually spreads through saliva. The virus is contagious for about a week before the disease breaks out, which can make it difficult to track down the source of infection. This gives an appearance rather like a hamster with food in its cheeks.
Mumps was a frequent cause of outbreaks among military personnel in the pre-vaccine era, and was one of the most common causes of aseptic meningitis and sensorineural deafness in childhood.
If you or your child contracts mumps, it can cause swelling in one or both parotid glands. Prior to the development of vaccination and the introduction of a vaccine , it was a common childhood disease worldwide, and is still a significant threat to health in the third world. It was designed to make writing database-driven applications easy while simultaneously making as efficient use of computing resources as possible.
Mumps is a common childhood disease. In cases of mumps, these glands typically swell and become painful. The salivary glands produce saliva, a liquid that moistens food and helps you chew and swallow. Mumps was common until the mumps vaccine was licensed in 1967.
Before the vaccine, up to 200,000 cases of mumps occurred each year in the United States. The disease is generally self-limiting, and there is no specific treatment apart from controlling the symptoms with painkillers. The virus can be isolated or propagated in cultures of various human and monkey tissues and in embryonated eggs. It offers a number of features unavailable in other languages, including some rarely used programming and database concepts.
The mumps virus is transmitted by respiratory droplets. A patient is considered infectious from about 3 days before the onset and up to 4 days into active parotitis. Infections can be asymptomatic in up to 20% of persons. Mumps virus is rapidly inactivated by formalin, ether, chloroform, heat, and ultraviolet light.
Causes of Mumps
The common causes of Mumps include the following :
- It is easily spread by close contact with an infected person by breathing, coughing, sneezing, kissing, or getting an infected person’s saliva into your mouth.
- In 5% of women, mumps causes ovarian inflammation.
- Mumps is a viral infection spread by airborne droplets from the nose or throat.
- Exposure of unvaccinated individuals to others infected with mumps.
- In 20%-30% of men, mumps causes testicular inflammation
- Touching a tissue or sharing a cup used by someone with mumps can also spread the virus.
- When a pregnant woman develops mumps, there may be some increased risk of fetal death and miscarriage if the mother is in her first trimester.
Symptoms of Mumps
Some sign and symptoms related to Mumps are as follows :
- Soreness or swelling of the parotid glands on one or both sides.
- Weakness.
- Pain with chewing or swallowing.
- Fever, usually lasting about two to three days.
- Pain on opening the mouth .
- Stiff neck.
- Sore throat.
- Earache that is aggravated by chewing.
- Dry mouth.
- Swollen tissue around the brain and spinal cord (meningitis).
- Hearing loss .
- Dehydration.
- Difficulty swallowing.
Treatment of Mumps
Here is list of the methods for treating Mumps :
- In cases without complications, mumps is treated with bed rest and care at home.
- If the patient cannot swallow, I.V. fluid replacement may be used.
- Acetaminophen or ibuprofen are commonly used to reduce fever and relieve discomfort.
- Apply hot or cold compresses to swollen areas.
- Drink plenty of liquids, but avoid tart or acidic drinks, such as orange juice and lemonade.
- Use ice and/or heat to decrease swelling.
- Giving your child acetaminophen (such as Tylenol, Tempra, or Panedol) or ibuprofen (such as Motrin or Advil) to decrease the fever.
- For males with orchitis, doctors may prescribe stronger pain medication as well as corticosteroids to reduce inflammation.
- Treatment includes analgesics for pain, antipyretics for fever, and adequate fluid intake to prevent dehydration from fever and anorexia.
