Mumps – causes, symptoms & therapy

Under the colloquial name of boobies or goat peters, mumps (medically precise parotitis epidemica or salivitis epidemica) has been known for many decades as a contagious and easily transmitted disease, mainly in small children.

Mumps, which affects patients in adulthood, is characterized not only as a children’s disease, but also by a much more complicated course and stronger secondary impairments.

In addition to the symptoms typical of the disease, a lifelong defense develops after experiencing mumps, so that the mumps does not recur. Mumps can be avoided by so-called active and passive immunization (vaccination).

Mumps is considered a notifiable disease because this disease can become an epidemic. Mumps can be characterized by serious comorbidities, such as meningitis and orchitis , and a painful, febrile course .

causes

Since mumps is a contagious and therefore transmissible disease, a direct or indirect transmission of the trigger is one of the reasons for its development.The pathogens from mumps are often transmitted through direct physical contact with sick people or through the so-called droplet infection.

The disease triggers, which are known as viruses under the name paramoxyviruses, lead to the infectious disease mumps after they penetrate and multiply in the organism.

Since mumps mainly affects children, transmission routes such as sneezing, speaking and coughing as well as physical contact such as kissing and viral consumer goods contribute to the development of mumps.

This is possible both in the private sphere and in day-care centers where many children, some of whom are already in the incubation period, share the toy with unaffected children. In order for the mumps to break out, a lack of resistance of the immune system and a holistic impairment of well-being are also decisive.

symptoms and course

Mumps often does not cause any symptoms. However, if this childhood disease is accompanied by symptoms, fever and swelling of the parotid glands are common, although this can also be unilateral.

In the early stages, mumps triggers a loss of appetite and possibly body aches and headaches . As a result, the parotid gland (parotitis) swells after about one or two days, which is expressed in the characteristic “hamster cheeks”. Swelling of the lymph nodes is also possible in this context.

In addition to chewing movements, head movements are also painful. The individual symptoms increase with age. As a result, mumps can cause various diseases. In addition to meningitis, testicular inflammation can also occur in men.

Diagnose

Mumps can be diagnosed in three different ways. Clinically, mumps is suspected by frequently occurring symptoms. As already mentioned, fever, body aches and loss of appetite are part of it. As the disease progresses, the parotid glands and lymph nodes in the neck swell. The swelling causes the swollen cheeks typical of mumps. Mumps is also diagnosed by this symptom.

The clinical diagnosis is secured by a laboratory test. For this purpose, the values ​​of the immunoglobulin M and the values ​​of the amylase are examined. If the amylase levels are elevated and the body has an increased immunoglobulin M level, a fresh infection can be assumed.

Immunoglobulin K is an antibody that occurs later in the disease. This increases fourfold in the case of a protracted infection. The immunoglobulin K value is measured using a molecular-biological method, the polymerase chain reaction. This procedure is the serological diagnosis.

Mumps can also cause co-morbidities that have more specific symptoms than mumps itself. Mumps can also be diagnosed by the symptoms of the diseases. These include purulent inflammation of the parotid glands, inflammation of the lymph nodes , salivary congestion and inflammation or rotation of the testicles.

complications

In addition to the classic symptoms associated with mumps, the infection can also have serious consequences. A possible complication is meningitis (inflammation of the meninges), which is associated with headaches and stiff neck and can also lead to an inflammatory change in the cerebrospinal fluid and swelling of the salivary glands.

Rarely, brain inflammation can also develop, in which patients feel dizzy and light-headed and have to struggle with vomiting and neurological deficits.

In very rare cases, such a brain infection can also cause permanent hemiplegia or hydrocephalus. Furthermore, the mumps disease can lead to sensorineural hearing loss (both on one and both sides). One-sided deafness in particular is a frequent complication of mumps in childhood.

Mumps can cause complications, especially in boys and men. It is not uncommon for the virus to infect the testicles, causing testicular inflammation, which is accompanied by fever and pain and, in the worst case, can also lead to fertility disorders and even infertility .

If a pregnant woman develops mumps for the first time in the first trimester of pregnancy, the result can be a miscarriage. If it doesn’t come to that, malformations in the fetus can still be expected.

In very rare cases, the mumps infection can also cause inflammation of the pancreas, thyroid or iris. Sometimes inflammation of the heart muscle, kidneys or ovaries is also possible. In view of the numerous possible complications and consequential damage, treatment of mumps is therefore essential.

treatment and therapy

The treatment of mumps refers exclusively to the acute symptoms that occur and accompany the disease, since the virus cannot be eliminated with causal therapy. For this reason, the mumps must be lived through.

Since mumps can manifest itself through various concomitant diseases and the typical signs of inflammation already have a severe impact on physical well-being, medical treatment is essential.

Anti-inflammatory and antipyretic drugs also include the so-called corticosteroid-containing drugs in the group of drugs used for mumps. The latter group of drugs is mainly required when orchitis or meningitis has been diagnosed.

In addition, alternative methods such as the supply of warmth from the outside and the intake of plenty of liquids as far as possible as well as a lot of sleep bring the expected relief.

prevention

A basic precaution against mumps can be guaranteed with a vaccination , which represents a passive immunization and is usually combined with a rubella and measles vaccination .This vaccination against mumps usually takes place from the age of 1 onwards. In order to ensure permanent immunization and to refresh the memory of the immune system, a booster vaccination is carried out around the 6th or 7th year of life. However, a test is required before this booster vaccination against mumps.

If a case of illness becomes known, appropriate precautionary measures must be taken to avoid droplet infection with the pathogens of mumps.

This includes, for example, wearing a face mask, avoiding direct physical contact and temporarily isolating mumps patients and disinfecting measures at home.