Mumps: Causes, symptoms, complications and prevention

The article was professionally consulted by BSCKI Le Huu Dong - Head of Department of Medical Examination & Internal Medicine, Vinmec Nha Trang International General Hospital.

Mumps is a fairly common acute infectious disease in children. Currently, there is no specific drug to treat mumps. If not diagnosed and treated properly, the disease can cause many dangerous complications.

Mumps is an acute infectious disease caused by the mumps virus (Mumps virus), which belongs to the family Paramyxoviridae. Viruses can survive for a long time outside the body: About 30-60 days at a temperature of 15-200 degrees Celsius and quickly destroyed at temperatures above 560 degrees Celsius or under the influence of bactericidal chemicals. .
Mumps is transmitted by the respiratory route and is most contagious 2 days before symptoms appear or 6 days after symptoms disappear. The disease is spread from an infected person to a healthy person through saliva or nasopharyngeal secretions containing the virus when an infected person sneezes, coughs, talks, spits, ...

Common symptoms of mumps include:
Sudden high fever. Anorexia. Headache. 1-3 days after fever; The salivary glands are painful, swollen, and may swell on one or both sides, causing the patient's face to be deformed, difficult to chew, and difficult to swallow. This is a characteristic sign of mumps. Nausea, vomiting. Muscle pain, body aches. Tired. Scrotal swelling and testicular pain may occur.

Mumps if not treated properly will lead to dangerous complications. Some complications of mumps include:
Orchitis and most worrying is testicular atrophy, which can lead to infertility. However, the rate of testicular atrophy due to mumps is quite low, only about 0.5%. Ovarian inflammation: The patient will have signs of abdominal pain, menorrhagia. In particular, pregnant women who contract mumps in the first 3 months can have a miscarriage or stillbirth. Pulmonary Infarction: Caused by a thrombus from the prostate vein. Acute pancreatitis. Myocarditis . Encephalitis, meningitis. Adults with mumps are often more advanced and leave more dangerous complications than children. Although the above complications occur at a relatively low rate, they are very dangerous, not only affecting fertility but also life-threatening.

4.1. Treatment of mumps At present, there is no specific treatment for mumps, mainly supportive treatment, patient care and prevention of complications of the disease:
When there are signs of pain in the parotid area , should see a doctor for an accurate diagnosis, because salivary gland inflammation is not necessarily caused by the mumps virus but can be caused by other viruses or bacteria. Use fever-reducing and pain-relieving medications to relieve symptoms. Drink plenty of water to rehydrate and electrolytes, it's best to drink Oresol. You can apply a cool compress to reduce swelling and pain of the salivary glands. Limit hard foods, spicy, hot or acidic foods. Choose foods that are soft, easy to chew, and easy to swallow, such as porridge and soup. Only use antibiotics when a superinfection is suspected and must be followed as prescribed by the doctor. Patients need to rest comfortably and should not be exposed to high-risk subjects such as children and adolescents. If a male patient has signs of orchitis or a female patient has ovarian inflammation, they should hospital immediately to be closely monitored, to avoid leaving regrettable sequelae. 4.2. Measures to prevent mumps Regular personal hygiene, gargling with salt water or other antibacterial solutions. Keep the living environment clean and ventilated, regularly clean the children's toys and items. Avoid contact with sick people. Let children wear masks when going to crowded places, with high risk of disease such as hospitals. The most effective way to prevent the disease is the measles mumps rubella vaccine or the mumps vaccine. The mumps vaccine in use today is a live bacterial vaccine, but has been attenuated so that it is no longer capable of causing disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) and many medical authorities in developed countries recommend the inclusion of mumps vaccine in immunization programs to prevent the disease. Currently, mumps vaccine is often combined with measles and rubella vaccines in the same preparation (MMR) to reduce the number of injections and simplify the vaccination process. Not only children, but even adults, especially women who are planning a pregnancy, should be vaccinated against mumps.
Adults: inject a single dose of 0.5ml on the upper arm. Children: The first dose is given when the child is 12-18 months old, the second dose is given when the child is 3-5 years old or before the child goes to school, 2 doses should be given at least 1 month apart. Mumps vaccine can be given to children at any age, so parents should not worry if they have missed the above milestones. Women who are planning to become pregnant need to be tested before getting the mumps vaccine. For 1 month after vaccination, pregnancy should be avoided. Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding should consult their doctor before receiving the mumps-measles-rubella vaccine. Vinmec International General Hospital provides measles-mumps-rubella vaccination service MMR II & Diluent Inj 0.5ml manufactured by SD - USA. Customers will be monitored before and after the vaccination to ensure the safety of their health as well as the effectiveness of the vaccine.

Article compiled from the source: Ministry of Health