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Mumps (parotitis epidemica)
Mumps (parotitis epidemica) also is called mumps in the people mouth. Mumps is an acute very infectious virus illness which is transferred by droplet infection. It appears due to the high infection ability primarily in the childhood and leads to a lifelong immunity. The striking disease symptom is the swelling of the parotid glands which causes the typical chubby cheeks. A dreaded complication is the sterility with boys at an illness in the puberty or in the adulthood if the gonads are damaged. A vaccination stands by the prophylaxis at the disposal.
The causative agent is the mumps virus (Rabula inflans) which is part of the family Paramyxoviridae. It is worldwide common. The prolonged gestation is made by droplet infection of man to man therefore for example at the coughing, spit, kisses or sneeze or by smear infections. The illness peak is between 6 and 15 year of life but also older teenagers and adults can fall ill with this viral infection. Boys fall ill twice as often as girl. As a rule, infants less than 12 months are protected from the mumps infection since they still have maternal antibodies. The illness more frequently appears in the spring and winter. 70 to 90% of all adults have antibodies against the mumps virus in the blood.
The illness leaves a lifelong immunity.
The incubation period, that is the period of time between the infection and the appearance of the first symptoms is 14 to 24 days.
Already six days before appearance of the first disease symptoms until 14 days after appearance of the glandular swelling is the fallen ill catching it.
The clinical picture appears as follows:
The mumps illness starts with nonspecific symptoms, like tiredness, light fever, head, neck or earaches as well as rheumatic pains. Only after this it comes to the swelling up of the parotid gland (N) characteristically. It is in front of the ear. The characteristic extension of the parotid gland cannot be seen only in the jaw angles therefore but the cheeks also have swollen considerably ("typical hamster baking"). The swelling of the parotid gland usually starts only on a side. After 2-3 days, as a rule, the other side also swells up. The skin over the parotid gland is tense, the environment swollen. The regional lymph nodes also have swollen up. The children complain about pains at the mastication, swallowing and shift of the head. You have a dry mouth. The pressure on the auditory canal can cause earaches. No-one, moderate or high fever accompanyingly appear.
At fallen ill about 20% of everyone also other glands concerned, primarily the pancreas aren't what can cause intense stomach ache (give any greasy eating!). Usually spare after 5 -8 days, the children are recovered again at the latest after two weeks.
Consult your physician at the appearance of the disease symptoms as soon as possible so that it finds out whether it is mumps or another illness of the parotid gland. Find your attending doctor primarily if your son's testicles ache strongly or your daughter has abdominal pains. You immediately consult the physician, if (meninges stimulation, encephalitis) the condition of the child deteriorates after ten days and it has headaches and a stiff nape.
Your physician will diagnose the disease by the specific symptoms. At the beginning of the illness the mumps virus can be proved also in the saliva. A definite proof for an acute mumps infection is the detection of certain antibodies (class IgM.) An infection already gone can be certainly with the IgG.
There isn't any specific therapy for the mumps illness. Your physician will prescribe medicines containing paracetamol for you against the fever and the pains for your child. It will order the most absolute confinement to bed at testicle tumescences. The physician will advise you your child because of the risk of infection to send this one glands after going down to school only five days.
The following useful measures can seize you yourself:
- Put compresses for your child on the face halves concerned. Try you out, whether warm or cold compresses provide your child with alleviation. You can use for example a hot-water bottle wrapped in a towel.
- Give your child fluid or mushy nutrition perhaps with a straw which can swallow it lightly.
- Offer only light or low-fat nutrition to spare the pancreas.
- Give your child something to drink much because of the dry mouth and the fever.
- You pay attention to a pernickety mouth hygiene (toothbrushing, solutions disinfecting throats)
The following complications don't appear at mumps rarely:
- A meninges stimulation or inflammations of the pancreas, thyroid, lacrimal glands and other glands are very frequent consequences one mumps illness.
- Mumps causes an encephalitis very rarely which even can be life-threatening. If the auditory nerve is concerned, even deafness can be the consequence.
- If mumps appears in or after the puberty, then it can come to an inflammation of the testicles (orchitis). This is a painful inflammation and swelling of the testicles which can lead to the sterility at a mutual occurrence. With girls and women it can come to an oophoritis.
There is the possibility of a vaccination for the prophylaxis with a mumps live vaccine. It represents a reliable protection from the illness. The first vaccination between this is normally carried out perfect 11th and the 14th life month. The second vaccination against mumps should be carried out in the second year of life to guarantee a reliable protection. However, it can be carried out after the first vaccination already four weeks. You usually vaccinate with combination preparations which also protect veins and rubellas from the infectious diseases.
These informations may be considered a substitute for a piece of medical advice in no case. The content of health-illness.com doesn't can and may be put into any case to make diagnoses or carry out self medical treatment independently.
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