MUMPS (Infectious Parotids)

It is a common virus infection that affect children mainly between 5-15 years of age, through some adults have also been seen to be suffering from this infection but. It is quite a rare occurrence. Onset and progress of disease is as follows.



· Symptom appears 2-3 weeks after the exposure.



· Fever, headache, vomiting may be the fore running symptoms which might precede a typical swelling of the parotid salivary glands.



· Gland on one side of the face, swells up days before the other but, at times, only one side gets affected.



· Almost all the symptoms disappear within 3-5 days but the patient remains infectious until swelling has fully disappeared.



· The infection may even spread to other salivary glands and from there to brain, testicles and pancreas.



· In adult males,, mumps may even cause sterility and render them impotent.



In fact, mumps may not appear if the infant was immunized at the infancy stage. If, in spite of immunization, mumps appear, their period of invasion and intensity is much less, and no medicine is called for, expect control of high fever efforts should be made to see that the infection does not spread to other vestal organ. Paediatric drops of paracetamol, given 6 hourly, will control fever and pain but no medicine is called for, except control of high fever.

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