Surely many mothers in whose families boys grow up know about such a disease as mumps. After all, it is boys that this affliction strikes twice as often as girls. And those who have no idea what this disease is and are careless about it, refusing to vaccinate their child, are simply obliged to get to know this disease better. So what is mumps? What are the causes of this disease, especially the course and treatment? You will find all this in our article.
What is mumps?
In common people, the disease of mumps (the patient’s photo is presented above) is called “mumps”, because infection causes severe swelling in the neck and behind the ears. It is considered mainly a childhood illness. But the risk of mumps in adults cannot be ruled out. The disease itself was mentioned in the 5th century BC. e., but all the information about what is mumps and what are its symptoms, appeared only in the 20th century.
This is an acute infectious disease caused by a virus called paramyxovirus. It is extremely unstable, and can be easily destroyed by boiling or ultraviolet radiation. But paramyxovirus is stable in cold conditions, that is, it can be stored for a long time at temperatures up to minus 70-80 degrees Celsius. The most typical manifestation of this disease is inflammation of the salivary glands, as a result of which they increase. Mumps mainly affects children from 3-15 years old. There is an opinion that a pig is ill only once, since acquired immunity is considered to be lifelong, but cases of re-infection are not uncommon. In nature, this disease spreads only among people, so you can get infected only from a sick person, but not from wild and domestic animals.
Absolutely everyone who does not have immunity to this virus can get mumps. After all, it occurs only in cases of vaccination, or in those cases if a person has already had mumps. Paramyxovirus can be infected either by airborne droplets or by contact, for example, a healthy child puts in his mouth a toy that a sick baby licked recently.
The season is also characteristic of this ailment, especially frequent cases of infection occur in the spring, and at the end of the summer, mumps are practically not recorded anywhere. The incubation period in children and adults is slightly different: in a child - from 12 to 23 days, and in adults - from 11 to 25 days.
Mumps is extremely dangerous for pregnant women, especially in the first trimester. Infection can lead to fetal freezing or miscarriage. In the rest of the period, it is not so dangerous, but in the last term it can provoke a pronounced jaundice in the newborn.
Disease classification
Mumps are divided according to the severity of the disease into three forms:
- The mild form is accompanied by a short-term increase in temperature and damage exclusively to the salivary glands.
- The moderate form is accompanied by general weakness, impaired appetite and sleep, a prolonged increase in temperature and damage to other glandular organs.
- A severe form is characterized by damage to many glands, including the central nervous system. The temperature with severe mumps can rise up to 40 degrees. Great risk of serious complications.
Also, this disease is divided into a typical and atypical form.
I. For a typical form, obvious signs are characteristic. Moreover, it can be both isolated, when only signs of mumps are manifested, and combined, when the symptoms of mumps and other concomitant diseases are combined.
II. During the atypical form, symptoms may be completely absent.
The course of mumps also depends on the age of the patient. Children tolerate mumps much more easily than adults.
Causes of the disease
As already mentioned, the main reason that causes mumps is an infection, or rather paramyxovirus. The gateway for its penetration is the mucosa of the upper respiratory tract, that is, infection occurs through conversation, coughing or sneezing from a sick person. You can also catch the infection through household items, that is, if the patient’s saliva fell on a towel, dishes, then after using them by a healthy person, the risk of infection increases.
After the virus enters the mucous membrane, it begins to accumulate there, and then enters the blood channel. And the channel is distributed to all organs. The favorite place of the virus is glandular organs, where it settles and begins to multiply actively. Of course, some part of it also falls on other organs, but there most often inflammation does not occur. But our immune system always stands on the protection of the body, and it begins to actively produce antibodies that bind the virus and remove from the body. These antibodies remain in the human body for life, and prevent re-infection.
Symptoms in children
Even if the child is already infected, then at first everything happens as always, there are no signs talking about the disease. But the very next day the first signs of mumps appear:
- Increase in body temperature to 38-39 degrees.
- Slight runny nose, sore throat.
These symptoms can be confused with SARS. But after another day with mumps, there is swelling of the salivary gland in the parotid zone, first on one side, and then the other side begins to swell. The whole process of inflammation of the glands is accompanied by dry mouth, an unpleasant odor from the oral cavity and soreness in the area of edema. In addition, it is difficult and painful for a child to chew food, to talk. Since parotitis disrupts normal salivation, and saliva has antibacterial properties, stomatitis on the oral mucosa is possible.
If along with the main symptoms of mumps there are signs of indigestion, such as heaviness, bloating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, then here we can talk about damage to the pancreas.
If other glandular organs are attacked, then the symptoms of complicated mumps are as follows:
- Girls experience ovarian inflammation, which is accompanied by lower abdominal pain, nausea, and general malaise.
- In boys with a complicated form of mumps, inflammation of the testicle occurs. Redness and swelling appears in the scrotum. All this is accompanied by pain.
A child may have a course of the disease with erased symptoms, that is, a slight increase in temperature is likely, with no edema observed. And the temperature goes away after three days. It happens that in a child mumps is asymptomatic. This form of the disease does not pose any danger, only this child is considered contagious and can infect other children.
Symptoms in adults
The main symptomatology of the disease in adults is similar to that of a child, but in an adult, the risk of a more complex course of mumps is several times greater. The first signs of mumps in adults are:
- Chills.
- Headache.
- Muscle pain.
- Runny nose.
- Cough and sore throat.
- Unpleasant sensations in the area where the salivary glands are located.
Further, parotid edema is added to these symptoms, moreover, simultaneous inflammation of the salivary glands on both sides is characteristic of adults. Mumps virus often affects the submandibular and sublingual glands. Puffiness accompanies a person up to 10 days, then decreases. When chewing, the patient has pain, it is also difficult for a person to talk. In a dream, the patient cannot choose a sleeping position for a long time, since lying on his side becomes unpleasant, which is why a person has insomnia during the period of the disease. Salivation is severely impaired, resulting in xerostomia (dry mouth), in addition, appetite is impaired. Such an acute period can last up to 4 days, gradually subsiding by the end of the week. In adults, a rash in the form of thick and red spots throughout the body is likely.
How is mumps diagnosed?
Many will think, but what is difficult to establish such a diagnosis as mumps ?! After all, all the signs are obvious when the face looks like a muzzle of a pig. But not always so simple. The fact is that swelling of the salivary glands can accompany another disease. Therefore, only a doctor can make an accurate diagnosis after a full-time examination of the patient. In addition to a visual examination, the doctor asks the patient several questions that relate to his well-being and complaints, and also clarifies that the patient may have recently interacted with mumps. Next, the doctor prescribes laboratory tests. As a rule, the analysis of urine in this case is not informative, it can only show that an infection is present in the body. The most modern method for determining mumps is the immunofluorescence reaction. It allows you to get reliable results in the shortest possible time, namely after 2-3 days. A method for determining the presence of antibodies to mumps is also used.
Mumps treatment
As such, the treatment of this disease itself is not carried out, all forces are thrown only to exclude the possibility of complications. As a rule, a patient with mumps cannot be hospitalized, except in cases where there are signs of an aggressive course of the disease. Therefore, if the patient has the following symptoms, you need to immediately call an ambulance:
- Severe headaches.
- Nausea with vomiting.
- Cramps.
- Loss of consciousness.
- Numbness in certain parts of the body.
- Hearing and visual impairment.
- Abdominal pain.
If the patient has a mild form of a disease such as mumps, treatment is carried out at home. The doctor prescribes:
- Bed rest.
- Drink plenty.
- A diet in which all artificial and harmful products will be absent. Also, the food should be warm, soft, without spicy and fried.
- Rinse the mouth with boiled water or a solution of boric acid.
- Antiviral drugs, immunomodulators, immunostimulants and antipyretics, if there is a strong temperature.
- It is also recommended to apply dry heat to the swollen area.
With a severe course of mumps, hospitalization is necessary. Depending on the type of complication, appropriate treatment is prescribed.
When attaching meningitis or polyneuropathy to the above, the purpose of some drugs is added. In addition, strict bed rest is indicated. Prescribed drugs that improve cerebral blood flow. To avoid cerebral edema, glucocorticosteroid and detoxification therapy is mandatory. Vitamins E, PP-acids, C, B are also prescribed.
When joining pancreatitis, strict bed rest and a small “hunger strike” are also prescribed, which will last two days. At this time, the patient will receive nutrients intravenously. Then, a special diet will be prescribed for the patient, which will exclude everything harmful. This diet will need to be adhered to for a year to eliminate the risk of diabetes.
In case of orchitis on the background of a disease such as mumps, treatment is carried out using corticosteroids.
Possible complications
Most often, a disease such as mumps is not dangerous for human life, but there are times when serious complications are possible. They arise with weak protective functions of the body. Almost half of all sick boys over the age of 10 are prone to complications after mumps in the form of orchitis (inflammation of the testicle). Orchitis is characterized by severe pain and redness in the scrotum, fever. This disease is especially dangerous for boys during puberty. If orchitis goes into severe form, this will cause testicular atrophy and provoke infertility. According to statistics, about 30% of young men with mumps and orchitis at the same time remain infertile
Paramyxovirus can have a damaging effect on the pancreas, resulting in pancreatitis. Another common complication after mumps is considered to be meningitis, which, with timely treatment, has a favorable prognosis.
Rarer complications include:
- Oophoritis (inflammation of the ovaries, observed in girls).
- Thyroiditis (dysfunction of the thyroid gland).
- The defeat of the auditory nerve.
- Arthritis and polyarthritis.
- Myocarditis.
- Nephritis.
Very, very rare, but still there are cases of death. It accounts for one in a hundred thousand, and is most often associated with the accession of a secondary infection or with a very severe course of the disease.
Preventative measures
Mumps is a highly contagious disease, therefore, if symptoms of this disease occur, it is urgent to isolate the patient from others. In addition, vaccination is of particular importance in such matters as the prevention of mumps. Unfortunately, the attitude of many mothers in our country to all kinds of vaccinations is negative. All children are vaccinated against measles, rubella, and mumps, but there are cases when the baby's mom writes a refusal to vaccinate. This is an unjustified risk! Of course, each child has his own reaction to the vaccine. Mumps, meanwhile, can cause much greater damage to health than vaccination. It’s better to administer the right amount of vaccines right away than to regret what you didn’t do. Timely vaccination (measles, mumps, rubella) will reduce the risk of infection by 98%. And this is a fairly high indicator.
Under standard conditions, the vaccine (measles, mumps, rubella) is given one year after birth. Before this time, vaccination is not carried out, since the baby is protected by maternal antibodies. Revaccination (measles, rubella, mumps) is carried out at 6 years. Surely many are wondering why we are talking about rubella and measles ?! The mumps vaccine usually contains antibodies against these diseases. After vaccination (rubella, measles, mumps), the reaction can be as follows: at about 5 days there is an increase in temperature and a slight increase in the salivary glands. Such symptoms last a couple of days, after which the person develops immunity.
Remember, if your child is sick with a disease such as mumps, others should not worry you about vaccination or treatment, you must urgently show the child to a doctor. With untimely treatment, the disease can go into a complicated form. Do not be afraid of the body's reaction to the vaccine against diseases such as measles, rubella, and mumps. Reviews, of course, can be confusing, but you are responsible for the health of your child, so you must take preventive measures.
The mumps vaccine is administered only to absolutely healthy children who have no contraindications. The main reasons a doctor can cancel a vaccination include:
- Colds.
- Age up to 1 year.
- Hypersensitivity to vaccine components. When a child is vaccinated against diseases such as rubella, measles, mumps, the opinions of mothers about this vaccine are negative, because it is possible that the child has an increased sensitivity to the components of the vaccine, and the baby is hard to tolerate vaccination.
- Hormone treatment.
- Malignant formations.
- Pregnancy.
It is important to know in advance all about possible contraindications so that the child does not have a negative reaction to the vaccine.
To prevent the disease from spreading, the following preventive measures must be observed:
- The patient must be isolated from others. Usually in kindergartens a sick child is sent home, and the kindergarten is closed for 3 weeks in quarantine. If there are no new outbreaks of infection during this period, children can safely return to the kindergarten.
- It is necessary to disinfect all objects and toys.
- The patient and those around him should wear medical masks.
- The room should be regularly ventilated.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is worth noting that the disease itself is not dangerous, but its possible complications and consequences. We hope you already have an idea of what mumps is and how it manifests itself. Of course, today the mumps is not some kind of plague, thanks to vaccination, but still often there are cases of infection. In order to protect themselves and protect their child, in almost 100% of cases from infection, vaccinations must be given. It is better to choose a combination vaccine, which includes antibodies to diseases such as measles, rubella, and mumps. Take care of yourself and your family!