Can You Get the Mumps Again
Mumps is a contagious viral infection that used to be common in children before the introduction of the MMR vaccine.
Symptoms of mumps
Mumps is most recognisable by the painful swellings in the side of the face under the ears (the parotid glands), giving a person with mumps a distinctive "hamster face" advent.
Other symptoms of mumps include headaches, articulation pain, and a high temperature, which may develop a few days before the swelling of the parotid glands.
Important: Coronavirus (COVID-nineteen)
At the moment information technology tin exist hard to know what to do if your child is unwell.
It's of import to trust your instincts and get medical assist if yous need it.
When to see a GP
It'due south of import to contact a GP if you suspect mumps and so a diagnosis can be made.
While mumps is not usually serious, the condition has similar symptoms to more serious types of infection, such as glandular fever and tonsillitis.
Your GP can ordinarily make a diagnosis later seeing and feeling the swelling, looking at the position of the tonsils in the mouth and checking the person'south temperature to come across if it's higher than normal.
Let your GP know in accelerate if you're coming to the surgery and then they can take any necessary precautions to prevent the spread of infection.
If your GP suspects mumps, they should notify your local health protection team (HPT). The HPT will suit for a sample of saliva to be tested to confirm or dominion out the diagnosis.
Notice your local health protection squad on GOV.UK
How mumps is spread
Mumps is spread in the same fashion every bit colds and influenza: through infected droplets of saliva that can be inhaled or picked up from surfaces and transferred into the oral fissure or nose.
A person is almost contagious a few days before the symptoms develop and for a few days later on.
During this time, information technology'southward important to prevent the infection spreading to others, particularly teenagers and young adults who have not been vaccinated.
If you accept mumps, you tin can assist foreclose it spreading by:
- regularly washing your hands with soap
- using and disposing of tissues when you sneeze
- avoiding school or work for at least v days after your symptoms offset develop
Preventing mumps
You tin protect your kid confronting mumps by making certain they're given the combined MMR vaccine for mumps, measles and rubella.
The MMR vaccine is part of the routine NHS childhood immunisation schedule.
Your child should exist given 1 dose when they're around 12 to 13 months and a second booster dose at 3 years and four months.
Once both doses are given, the vaccine provides effectually 88% protection against mumps.
Anyone who did not have both doses of the MMR vaccine as a child tin contact a GP to adapt to exist vaccinated.
Treatment for mumps
There'southward currently no cure for mumps, merely the infection should pass within one or 2 weeks.
Treatment is used to save symptoms and includes:
- getting plenty of bed rest and fluids
- using painkillers, such every bit ibuprofen and paracetamol – aspirin should not be given to children nether 16
- applying a warm or absurd compress to the swollen glands to help relieve hurting
Complications
Mumps usually passes without causing serious harm to a person's health. Serious complications are rare.
Simply mumps can lead to viral meningitis if the virus moves into the outer layer of the brain.
Other complications include swelling of the testicles or ovaries (if the affected person has gone through puberty).
Find out more about the complications of mumps
Who'due south afflicted
Nigh cases of mumps occur in younger adults who did not receive the MMR vaccine as office of their babyhood vaccination schedule and did not have mumps as a child.
Older adults who were built-in in the UK before the vaccine was introduced are likely to have had mumps as a child. Once yous have been infected past the mumps virus, you commonly develop a life-long immunity to further infection.
The MMR vaccine was introduced in 1988. Adults born betwixt 1980 and 1990 may not accept been vaccinated as children, and are less probable than older adults to accept had mumps every bit a child.
Mumps is currently most common among people born in the tardily 1990s and early on 2000s who missed out on the MMR vaccine equally children.
Page last reviewed: 24 September 2021
Next review due: 24 September 2024
Source: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/mumps/
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