The Homepage for Children's Health
Asthma in Children Childhood Diseases The Baby Page Vaccination Food and Drink Other Problems of Childhood
Prevention of Mumps The disease can be prevented by the MMR vaccine. Apart from mumps, it protects the child from measles and rubella. This vaccine should be given to all children at the age of fifteen months. The practice of giving this vaccine instead of the measles vaccine at the age of 9 months is wrong; the child is unable to mount an adequate immune response at that age to all components of this vaccine.

Mumps in Children

This is a viral disease, and its distinctive characteristic is a swelling of the parotid salivary glands. These are located below and in front of each ear, and are usually both affected. A single episode of mumps usually gives lifelong immunity.

The disease sets in with fever, headache, body ache, and an unwell feeling. The characteristic facial swelling appears a day or two later. Children are infectious to others from a day before the swelling appears to three days after it subsides. The disease is transmitted by direct contact, airborne droplets by coughing, saliva of the patients, and perhaps urine.

Sometimes, the swelling is one sided, causing diagnostic confusion. One sided swellings are also seen in bacterial infections of one parotid gland, which require antibiotics for cure.

The swelling progresses for 1-3 days, and then subsides over the next 3-7 days. The swollen area is painful, and this is enhanced by sour and spicy food or liquid. Not much medication is available or required for a mumps episode. Fever medication, hot fomentation to relieve the pain, and a bland diet are all that is usually done.

Complications of Mumps

The importance of mumps lies in its complications, which involves many organs of the body. The most important is perhaps the brain (encephalitis), which is fatal in 2% of cases. Affection of the testes (orchitis) in boys can lead to sterility. The pancreas, kidneys, joints, thyroid, heart, ears, and eyes are also affected sometimes.

Last revision: July 15, 2007

Mehta Childcare home      The Baby Page      Vaccination
Childhood diseases      Asthma     Food and drink
Childhood problems     About Dr Parang