How can you get mumps?
The disease has been known since the time of Hippocrates, but its viral nature was proven only in 1934. The mumps virus is unstable. It quickly dies under the influence of ultraviolet radiation and disinfectants. It is transmitted only from person to person through the air (airborne), although in kindergartens transmission of the virus through toys is not excluded. Upon first contact, all people who are not immune to the virus become ill.
Mumps is most dangerous for boys. And it is they, according to statistics, who get sick more often. Girls get sick one and a half times less often.
Mumps is characterized by seasonality, with a peak incidence in the spring - in March-April. If mumps enters a child care facility, it causes outbreaks of disease for quite a long time - up to three to four months.
Once in the body, the virus spreads through the bloodstream, finding the most optimal places for reproduction - glandular organs and cells of the nervous system.
What causes mumps
Mumps, or mumps, as it is popularly known, is an infectious disease that is of viral origin.
When a virus enters the body of a child or adult, the salivary glands are damaged. You can only become infected from a sick person through airborne droplets in close contact with him.
Infecting a child with the mumps virus through toys and household items is almost impossible, since pathogenic microorganisms are unstable in the external environment.
Thus, the source of the virus is the sick person himself; he acts as a carrier of the infection several days before the first signs of the disease appear and 5 days after the infection develops. People have a high susceptibility to the disease, especially children, with boys getting sick much more often than girls.
This infectious disease has its own seasonality, the peak of the disease occurs in the spring – March–April. People get mumps only once; once the disease has been suffered, it gives immunity against this infection for life.
Typical mumps in children
From the moment of contact to the development of the first symptoms of the disease, one to three weeks pass, usually 14-18 days. At first, the child feels unwell, which is difficult for him to describe in words, so he simply becomes capricious and cries. If I could tell you, you would hear that he is chilling, his muscles and joints ache, his mouth is unpleasantly dry, and his ears hurt.
After just a day or two, the body temperature rises sharply and severe weakness appears. The child “confuses” day with night, cries, and sometimes holds his head or ears.
A little later, the mother notices that the oval of the baby’s face has changed. Upon careful examination, it turns out that there is swelling in the post-auricular-cervical area. It has a doughy consistency to the touch. These are the affected parotid glands. If they increase greatly, and even the sublingual ones join, the neck thickens significantly, the earlobe rises. The face becomes like a pear, or, as the ancients decided, like a guinea pig. The process is almost always bilateral, sometimes asymmetrical. It often starts on one side, and after a couple of days it joins on the other. The skin is stretched, but its color is not changed.
The child complains of pain in the ears, his hearing begins to worsen - the enlarged gland compresses the Eustachian tubes. The pain prevents the baby from chewing; in severe cases, the baby refuses to drink. This torment continues for 4-5 days, then the situation begins to improve. Body temperature gradually decreases and swelling decreases. The child becomes cheerful and begins to eat.
About a quarter of patients have mild mumps, and the same number have asymptomatic ones. They are the ones who pose the greatest danger to others, because they carry the infection and infect everyone they come across, of course, without knowing it.
Degrees of the disease and characteristic symptoms
Epidemic mumps has been studied quite well - this disease has been known to science for two centuries. In medicine, it is customary to classify it according to the severity of its occurrence:
- Mild degree. It is characterized by the development of an inflammatory process in the salivary glands. In this case, the child’s body temperature will rise suddenly and quickly to average levels.
- Average degree. In addition to elevated temperature, this degree of severity of mumps is characterized by fever - the child is “shaking.” With moderate severity of the disease, the inflammatory process affects not only the salivary glands, but also other glandular organs. The patient will complain of headache, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, and insomnia.
- Severe degree. This degree of the viral disease in question is considered the most dangerous to the health and even life of the child, because the inflammatory process affects both the salivary glands and the central nervous system.
Why is mumps dangerous?
- Meni ngit. The most common complication of mumps in children. It affects every tenth girl and every sixth boy with mumps.
- Orh it. Boys' lot. The frequency of development is higher, the older the child. The testicles enlarge, reaching the size of billiard balls. They hurt a lot. If urgent measures are not taken, testicular atrophy occurs in half of the patients. And in the future - azospermia and infertility.
- Acute pancreatitis manifests itself on the seventh day of illness with vomiting and abdominal pain. Requires immediate assistance.
- 's deaf . It develops if the case is complicated by labyrinthitis - inflammation of the inner ear. The mother should be alerted to such signs as: repeated vomiting, complaints of dizziness, loss of balance by the child. Deafness is often one-sided - on the side where the enlargement of the glands was most pronounced. Hearing is not restored.
Adult and childhood mumps
Mumps in adults, as well as in children, is characterized by several forms of the disease:
- Initial (mild) stage. From 30 to 45% of infected people suffer from this form. In this case, the disease proceeds with virtually no increase in body temperature or other pronounced symptoms.
- Parotitis of moderate severity. There is inflammation of the salivary glands on both sides of the neck, the initial stages of headache, body temperature rises to 39C.
- Severe form. Increase in temperature up to 40C, disorders in the nervous and cardiovascular systems, decreased blood pressure, tachycardia, insomnia.
At what age can mumps be born? As we have already determined, this disease is typical for people of different age categories. A child’s body copes with the disease faster and more effectively than an adult, regardless of the form and stage of development of the disease.
Mumps in pregnant and breastfeeding women
Mumps is more severe in pregnant and breastfeeding women, due to a general decrease in immunity. But he poses an even greater danger to their children.
Recent studies confirm the data that the mumps virus, affecting a child in utero, can lead to primary myocardial fibroelastosis. This disease is accompanied by acute heart failure and, without treatment, leads to the death of the baby in the first months of life.
The mumps virus penetrates into breast milk, so if a nursing mother gets mumps, the baby is temporarily transferred to artificial feeding.
Complications of mumps and consequences of mumps in men
Mumps is dangerous not because of its severe course - this can be regulated with medications and bed rest with folk recipes. The viral disease in question is characterized by the development of serious complications :
- pancreatitis - an inflammatory process in the pancreas;
- meningitis - inflammation of the meninges;
- encephalitis - inflammation of the soft tissues of the brain;
- oophoritis - inflammation of the ovaries in girls;
- hearing loss, often complete irreversible deafness.
Important: mumps is most dangerous for boys - as a complication of the disease, they develop ochritis (inflammation of the testicles), which leads to further infertility. Previously, it was believed that every boy who had mumps in childhood was doomed to infertility, but during research it was found that such a complication is diagnosed only in 15% of cases, which is also not small.
Algorithm for diagnosing complications of mumps:
Basic rules for treating mumps
Only those children who have a severe course, complications, or have epidemiological indications (from an orphanage) are hospitalized.
There is no special treatment. However, diet and diet are very important. A child (especially a boy) should spend most of his time in bed. Bed rest lasts at least ten days. The mother must make every effort to do this in order to prevent the development of complications. The food should be gentle, in the first days it should be pureed and always warm. It is important to give your baby water often. At the first signs of complications, call a doctor to coordinate further treatment tactics or hospitalization.
Treatment of mumps
As soon as the doctor makes a diagnosis, therapeutic treatment begins. With non-infectious mumps, neither diagnosis nor the process of blocking the infection itself is a problem. However, if mumps has taken a moderate or severe form, the baby may be prescribed additional examination and treatment in a hospital .
Treatment of mumps of non-infectious origin is not limited to the use of any specific drugs. In this case, it is only necessary to eliminate the infection and prevent the disease from developing into an acute form with accompanying complications.
First of all, the sick person must be isolated from other family members. Be sure to observe bed rest. This is especially true for boys, in whom mumps very quickly develops into the development of an acute form of orchitis (inflammation of the genitourinary system and testicles).
The basis of treatment is as follows:
- To ensure normalization of body temperature, the doctor will definitely prescribe ibuprofen, paracetamol or drugs containing antipyretic components;
- When the temperature drops to 37C, a dry warming bandage is prescribed to the area of inflammation of the salivary glands;
- As with any infectious disease, drinking plenty of fluids is recommended;
- The diet is reduced to the consumption of ground, non-hard foods of dairy and vegetable origin. Sour and flour products are excluded from the diet;
- After eating, rinse with a 2% soda solution;
- Sometimes a doctor may prescribe physiotherapeutic procedures using ultraviolet irradiation.
From the video you can find out that according to the Komarovsky method, measles, rubella and mumps are perfectly treated with restorative decoctions of herbs and fruits. For example, an infusion of rosehip or linden can be used internally, and the throat can be treated with an infusion of chamomile or sage.
The main thing you should pay attention to is disease prevention. Mumps vaccination, recommended by doctors according to the national calendar at the age of one year, followed by a repeat at 5-6 years, will help develop the necessary degree of protection.
Ignoring vaccinations can expose your baby to serious risks. Severe headache, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting are the first signs that the disease is gaining momentum and moving into a more acute phase.
Be vigilant and consult a doctor in a timely manner for a correct diagnosis! Even if you are completely sure of the symptoms, for your own peace of mind, be sure to confirm them in the clinic. It is in this case that you will be prescribed the correct treatment, and the baby will quickly recover.
Vaccination
The vaccine stimulates the body to produce antibodies against mumps. There is no separate vaccination against mumps, because the vaccination is complex against several serious diseases - rubella, measles and mumps. A week after vaccination, the child may develop symptoms characteristic of measles. This is normal, the fever and rash will go away on their own.
Contraindications for vaccination: AIDS, leukemia, allergies in the child and possible severe reactions. You cannot vaccinate if your child is sick with tuberculosis or has an intolerance to chicken and quail protein. There is a myth that you can't get mumps again. Immunity appears after the first treatment of the disease, but if the immune system is weakened, a relapse may occur.
It's not just boys who need vaccinations. For them, mumps can lead to infertility, which is very dangerous. But the characteristic symptoms of mumps also apply to girls due to the extensive consequences of the disease.
Prevention
Don't forget to vaccinate your child on time . Today, mumps vaccination is the most important prevention of mumps in children.
In Russia, it is performed on children aged 1 and 6 years .
From a very early age, pay attention to hardening your baby , visit the pool with him. Spend as much time as possible outdoors in summer and winter .
All this will help strengthen the child’s body’s defenses. Even if the baby gets sick, the illness will be mild and complications will be avoided.
Mumps is not such a terrible disease. Its complications are much more dangerous . Very often they cause undesirable consequences, and in case of brain damage they can take the life of a child.
It’s worth remembering all this if you discover an incomprehensible swelling in your baby behind the ears or under the jaw. Call a doctor immediately , even if the baby’s body temperature is not elevated.
If the doctor confirms the diagnosis, provide the child with bed rest and warm drinks . You can drink fruit drinks, infusions of medicinal herbs, and non-acidic juices.
This way you will protect your baby from illness , and even if illness does occur, the baby will endure it easily.
Be prudent and attentive to the health of your fidget, do not self-medicate. Let him grow up healthy to your joy!
