TMD la! I got mumps okay?
Adult Mumps: An Overview
Mumps is a contagious illness caused by a virus that can result in fever and swelling of the neck. Infections are most common during spring, especially April and May. Mumps is considered less contagious than both measles and chickenpox.
Mumps appears to be happening more in adults, with approximately 40 percent of mumps virus infections occurring in this group. Even so, mumps epidemics are relatively uncommon.
Cause of Adult Mumps
Adult mumps is caused by an infection with the mumps virus, which is found worldwide. The mumps virus is an RNA (ribonucleic acid) virus from the family Paramyxovirus of the genus Rubulavirus. The mumps virus only infects humans.
Transmission of Adult Mumps
The spread of adult mumps is similar to that for children. The mumps virus resides in the mucus in the nose and throat of the infected person, along with the saliva. When that person sneezes or coughs, droplets spray into the air. The infected mucus can land in other people’s noses or throats when they breathe or put their fingers in their mouth, nose, or eyes after touching an infected surface.
(Click Mumps Transmission for more information.)
Incubation Period for Adult Mumps
When an adult becomes infected with the mumps virus, the virus begins to multiply within the nose, throat, and lymph glands in the neck. The virus can also enter the blood and spread to other parts of the body. After 16 to 18 days, on average, mumps symptoms can appear. This period between mumps transmission and the start of symptoms is known as the “incubation period for mumps.” In some cases, the incubation period can be as early as 12 days or as late as 25 days.
Contagious Period for Adult Mumps
An adult with mumps is contagious anytime from about 3 days prior to the onset of the swelling of the salivary glands (called parotitis) to 9 days after the onset. A person can spread mumps if he or she becomes infected with mumps virus, even if symptoms never develop.
Symptoms of Adult Mumps
The most common symptoms of adult mumps include:
* Fever
* Swelling of the salivary glands (the parotid salivary glands, which are located within your cheek, near your jawline, and below your ears, are most frequently affected).
(Click Pictures of Mumps to see examples of salivary gland swelling.)
Other mumps symptoms seen in adults can include:
* Headache
* Muscle aches
* Tiredness
* Loss of appetite
* Sore throat
* Chills.
These symptoms generally improve after 1 to 2 weeks.
Making an Adult Mumps Diagnosis
In order to make an adult mumps diagnosis, the doctor will ask a number of questions about a person’s medical history and perform a physical exam, looking for signs or symptoms of mumps. Diagnosing mumps can often be done just based on a person’s symptoms and findings on the physical exam. If the doctor is unsure, he or she may order tests that look for antibodies against the mumps virus or for the virus itself.
During a mumps outbreak, diagnosing mumps is straightforward. When a mumps case is more isolated, the doctor will consider several other medical conditions that can have similar signs or symptoms as mumps, including:
* Influenza (the flu)
* Bacterial infection of the parotid glands
* Tuberculosis
* Leukemia
* Hodgkin’s disease
* Drug reaction, including a reaction to iodine known as “iodine mumps”
* Parotitis caused by other viruses
* Pregnancy
* Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE or lupus)
* Mononucleosis (mono)
* Parotid gland tumor
* Sarcoidosis
* Cat-scratch disease
* Lymphoma
* Cellulitis
* Diabetes
* Sjogren’s syndrome.
Treating Adult Mumps
There is currently no treatment for adult mumps that can kill the mumps virus. Because mumps is caused by a virus, antibiotics or other medications for mumps are not effective. Therefore, adult mumps treatment focuses on providing relief of symptoms as the body fights the virus. This is called supportive care.
(Click Treatment for Mumps for more information.)
Prognosis for Adult Mumps
Most adults recover from mumps without any long-term problems. However, there are a number of complications of mumps seen in adults. Some of these complications can occur with mumps symptoms. In other cases, these complications may develop without symptoms. In rare cases, long-term problems can result, including deafness.
Complications associated with adults mumps include:
* Inflammation of the testes, called orchitis (this occurs in 1 out of 4 males with mumps)
* Inflammation of the brain and/or tissue covering the brain and spinal cord (called encephalitis and meningitis, respectively)
* Inflammation of the ovaries and/or breasts (oophoritis and mastitis, respectively)
* Spontaneous abortion, particularly in early pregnancy (miscarriage)
* Deafness, usually permanent
* Pancreatitis.
With the exception of deafness, these complications are more common among adults than children. There is no treatment for mumps that can prevent complications.
Preventing Adult Mumps
The most effective mumps prevention method in adults is the mumps vaccine. In the United States, mumps vaccine is most commonly given with MMR vaccine (also known as measles, mumps, rubella vaccine). Generally, anyone 18 years of age or older who was born after 1956 should get at least one dose of mumps vaccine, unless they can show that they have had either the vaccines or the diseases.
It takes about 2 weeks after a mumps vaccination before your body develops immunity to the virus. If you must travel to an affected area before you have this immunity, ways to avoid mumps infection include:
* Wash your hands frequently
* Do not share eating utensils or beverage containers
* Avoid sources of saliva from another person, such as sneezing or coughing.