Mumps

Many of the cases in the current outbreak, have occurred in children, who had previously received 2 doses of the vaccine.

This obviously raises questions, about the effectiveness of the mumps vaccine currently in use, against the strain currently circulating.

What is mumps? Mumps is a highly contagious viral illness, spread by droplets.

(i.e. the tiny droplets of saliva, and other respiratory secretions, that are exchanged when people are close to one another).What is the incubation period for mumps?

The incubation period of mumps is a long one, extending from 2-3 weeks.
That means, that a person exposed to mumps, will not present with the illness, until 2-3 weeks later.

The infectious period of mumps begins 2-3 days prior to the onset of symptoms, and extends for at least 5 days after the onset of symptoms.What are the symptoms of mumps?

Most symptoms begin, with mild non-specific symptoms such as headache and fatigue, during which time the infected individual is contagious.

They might then progress to the clinical illness of mumps, which is often mild involving swelling of the salivary glands (the glands that make saliva), located in front of and below the ear.

Other salivary glands, under the jaw may also be involved.

The swelling may be on one or both sides, and is commonly associated with pain during eating; particularly food stuffs, that stimulate the flow of saliva such as citrus. The illness usually lasts up to a week, and gets better spontaneously.

Are there complications from mumps?About 10-15% of all those infected with mumps may, G-d forbid, develop complications such as: severe headache, inflammation of the gonads (testicles or ovaries) and less frequently damage to the hearing apparatus, and inflammation of the pancreas.

Although most of the complications do resolve without consequence, rarely, there is long-lasting damage to the affected organ(s).