Mumps In Adults
What is Mumps? Mumps is a contagious illness that causes swelling of the neck and the parotid glands, or the saliva glands. Mumps is primarily a disease that affects children, but it can affect people of any age. When it affects adults, it may have some complications as well. It is caused by a virus, and there is no specific treatment for the disease, but one can be vaccinated against the illness. Since the development of the MMR vaccine, the disease is not as common as it used to be, but Mumps has started appearing more and more in adults and young adults.
How Does it Spread? The disease is spread by the mumps virus, which only infects humans. This means that you can only catch it from other people—children or adults. The virus resides in the mucus of the nose and throat, and that’s how it spreads. When an infected person sneezes or coughs, the virus may fall on hands or be breathed in by another person. Once infected, the virus begins to multiply within the body. After an incubation period ranging from anywhere between 12 and 25 days, the first symptoms of the illness begin to appear. The disease is contagious around three days before the symptoms begin to appear, so it is easy to spread the disease without even being aware of it.
Symptoms: The most common, identifying symptom of mumps is a swelling of the neck and salivary glands. This swelling is accompanied by an inability to speak clearly, and intense pain when swallowing, especially sour liquids. The disease is also usually accompanied by a fever, and sometimes headaches, muscle aches, tiredness and a loss of appetite. Some people will not show the symptoms at all, but may still be susceptible to the complications of the disease.
Complications: Most people recover from the disease without any long term complications, but with adults, there is a chance of some complications developing. In children, meningitis or encephalitis may develop in very rare cases. In adults, the most commonly observed complication is a sharp pain in the testes, usually accompanied be fever and chills. When this happens, there is a possibility that the affected testicle will permanently atrophy. This is called orchitis, and there is no evidence that this affects fertility. For women, there is a possibility of inflammation of the ovaries or breasts.
In the case of pregnant women, there is a danger of a spontaneous abortion or miscarriage, but no observe red risk of malformation of the baby. Other risks include deafness and pancreatitis.
Treatment: There is no treatment for the illness, and the only recourse is to wait for the virus to run its course. Antibiotics and other medicines are not effective. Medical treatment concentrates on providing relief from the symptoms. If you haven’t already had the disease, it is recommended that you take the MMR (Mumps, Measles, Rubella) vaccine. General hygiene like washing hands before eating, avoiding contamination from others saliva helps in keep mumps, and many other airborne diseases, at bay.
Most of the people who suffer from mumps, may suffer during the course of the viral disease, but are able to recover without any major health issues. However, mumps in adults are known to cause complications as well. Deafness and pancreatitis are some of the common complications of mumps in adults, and while not every one may suffer from these, it is possible that some may experience mumps in adults and its complications. While mumps was earlier limited only to children, it seems that in the last several years, the incidence of mumps has increased in adults as well. Today, almost 40% of viral mumps cases are reported in adults. Since it is also transmitted very easily and very fast, mumps epidemics are extremely common and are easy to occur.
Mumps in adults diagnosis is usually obtained after a person has already been infected. The diagnosis is based on the basis of symptoms as well as viral blood tests. The virus itself is found everywhere in the world; therefore, the disease is not even endemic. The mumps virus, also known as the RNA virus, or ribonucleic acid virus, belongs to the family paramyxovirus. This virus, though present all around in our environment, only affects humans in its surroundings. The transmission of mumps in adults is exactly like that in children. The virus is present in the throat, mucus, and nose of an infected person. From the mucus membranes, the virus may also be transmitted to the saliva. When a person sneezes, coughs, or exchanges saliva with an infected person, the virus passes from one person to the other. The droplets of saliva and mucus that spray the air can cause the virus to remain airborne, transmitting it to anyone who is not cautious enough.
As an adult becomes infected with the RNA mumps virus, it can quickly begin to multiply. Since the viruses makes the mucus membranes of the nose and throat its home, the infection begins from there. The virus may also move on to the lymph nodes in the neck and may cause swelling there as well. If the virus enters the blood of a person, it can quickly begin to spread to other parts of the body and may cause complications. The symptoms of mumps in adults do not appear until after a few weeks of the infection. It is only about 16 to 18 days later that the viruses have multiplied enough to cause the appearance of the first symptoms. This time between the first transmission of the virus and the appearance of the symptoms is known as the incubation period. The incubation period is different in different people. In some people, the incubation period may only be 12 days, and in others, it may last up to a month as well.
Complications of mumps in children are hardly ever seen. However, when this disease happens in adults, it can cause severe complications. Children may recover without any lasting effects of the disease, but there are a few children in whom mumps may cause encephalitis or meningitis, both of which are extremely dangerous. These complications occur when the virus gets transported to other parts of the body, especially the brain. In adults, one of the most common complications of mumps is pain in the testicles. The complications of mumps in adult related to the testicles may be seen as a sharp pain that persists. This pain is usually accompanied by chills and fever. If the pain in the testes persists, it can cause permanent atrophy and therefore, may affect fertility of the male. However, till now there have been no links found between mumps in adults and infertility. Testicular atrophy in adults, caused by the mumps virus, is known as orchitis. This condition may cause severe damage to the testes, but studies have not been able to prove conclusively whether this has anything to do with fertility. In women, the mumps virus may cause a swelling in the breasts as well as ovaries. Again, there is no conclusive evidence of the virus infecting the fertility of a woman.
Pregnant women may be susceptible to the mumps virus. If a woman has not had mumps in her childhood, inoculation is recommended before getting pregnant. Mumps, though relatively harmless to others, may be very dangerous if transmitted during pregnancy. There is a high risk of spontaneous abortion or miscarriage in a pregnant woman who has contracted mumps. However, unlike German measles, there is no reported risk to the growing fetus if it is not miscarried. There are also no reported cases of malformation in babies.
Treating mumps in adults is not possible. Unfortunately, in most cases, treatment for viral diseases has not been found yet. The virus usually runs its course and dies. A doctor may offer you antibiotics and other medications, but these are most likely not helpful to the patient. Any medical treatment provided to adults with mumps is based on providing temporary relief from the painful symptoms. When it comes tomumps in adults, the best treatmentis the prevention of the spread of the virus. Inoculationand maintaining general hygiene are your best possible bets to avoid mumps and its complications. If you haven’t had mumps in your childhood, getting vaccinated for mumps, measles, and rubella is the best. The best way to prevent yourself from any airborne diseases is to wash your hands and other exposed parts of the body thoroughly before eating.
