Mumps

Rare card · No. 51480

Mumps is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable viral disease caused by the mumps virus. Initial symptoms of mumps are non-specific and include fever, headache, malaise, muscle pain, and loss of appetite. These symptoms are usually followed by painful swelling around the side of the face (the parotid glands, called parotitis), which is the most common symptom of a mumps infection. Symptoms typically occur 16 to 18 days after exposure to the virus. About one-third of people with a mumps infection do not have any symptoms (asymptomatic). Complications are rare but include deafness and a wide range of inflammatory conditions, of which inflammation of the testes, breasts, ovaries, pancreas, meninges, and brain are the most common. Testicular inflammation may result in reduced fertility and, rarely, sterility. Humans are the only natural hosts of the mumps virus. The mumps virus is an RNA virus in the family Paramyxoviridae. The virus is primarily transmitted by respiratory secretions such...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Photo Credit: Content Providers: CDC/NIP/Barbara Rice, Public domain