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Mumps (also known as epidemic parotitis)

This factsheet is for people who want to find out more about mumps.

Mumps is an infectious illness caused by a virus. In the 2004-2005 mumps epidemic, most of the people infected with the virus were aged between 15 and 24, but you can catch it at any age. It is now less common because of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination.

How do you get mumps?

Mumps is contagious (can be passed from person to person). It is spread through saliva and tiny droplets in the air from someone sneezing.

It is most easily caught from people with the infection from two to six days before they get swollen glands to about nine days after.

You can get mumps at any time of year, but it's most common in the winter and spring.

Mumps used to be very common. Before the MMR vaccination was introduced in 1988, 87 percent of children aged up to 10 in England caught mumps and 1,200 people in England and Wales were admitted to hospital every year because of mumps. But now that the MMR vaccination is routine, mumps has become less common.

How long to stay off school?

According to the Health Protection Agency, children with mumps should stay off school for at least five days after their glands first begin to swell.

Symptoms

It usually takes about 14 to 21 days to develop symptoms after being exposed to the virus (the incubation period). About one in three children with mumps don't get any symptoms.

At first, the symptoms of mumps are similar to those of flu, and can include:

• fever
• headache
• sore throat
• earache that is made worse by chewing
• pain on chewing and swallowing
• loss of appetite
• tiredness
• muscle aches

A day or two later, this is followed by swelling of the parotid glands (on one or both sides). This is when the diagnosis of mumps is usually made.

The swelling of the glands can make it difficult for you to open your mouth and to eat, drink or speak. This usually lasts for up to 10 days.

Complications

A small percentage of people who are infected with mumps get more serious problems and a very small percentage may develop long-term problems. Severe complications are rare now that most children are immunised with the MMR vaccination. But complications can happen a week after the start of mumps symptoms.

About one in 10 people with mumps develop signs of viral meningitis. One in four men who catch mumps after puberty get swelling in the testes (orchitis), which can affect their fertility. About four in 100 people suffer from hearing loss after having mumps. Swelling of the brain (encephalitis) and swelling of the pancreas (pancreatitis) can also occur.

If you are in the first three months of pregnancy and have mumps, there is also an increased risk of having a miscarriage.

Your doctor will explain more about the risks to you. Tell your doctor if you or your child have any of the following symptoms:

• stiffness in the neck
• being sick
• dislike of light
• soreness and tenderness of the testes (orchitis) or breasts (mastitis)

Also see your doctor if you have symptoms of mumps and are pregnant, or if you or your child still have mumps symptoms after about 10 days.

Diagnosis

Your doctor will examine you and ask you about your symptoms.

Mumps is a notifiable disease. This means that if your doctor suspects that you have mumps, by law they have to report it. This is so that there can be accurate statistics of how many people in the UK are getting mumps each year.

Treatment

There is no specific treatment for mumps. Taking the painkiller you would normally take for a headache will help to ease the symptoms of the mumps. It is also important to drink plenty of fluids to stop you from becoming dehydrated.

Prevention

The most effective way to protect yourself or your child from catching mumps is immunisation with the MMR vaccine - a combined vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella. This is given in two doses to children at around 13 months, although teenagers and adults can also have the vaccine. For more information, please see the separate BUPA factsheet, MMR vaccine.

Further information

• Health Protection Agency
  www.hpa.org.uk

Sources

• Simon C, Everitt, H, Birtwistle, J, Stevenson, B. Oxford Handbook of General Practice, London. 2004
• Mumps. CDC Infectious Diseases Information
  www.cdc.gov
  accessed 7 August 2006
• Measles, mumps and rubella.
  www.clinicalevidence.com
  accessed 7 August 2006
• Mumps: general information. Health Protection Agency.
  www.hpa.org.uk
  accessed 8 August 2006

Published by BUPA's health information team, healthinfo@bupa.com, December 2006.

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