Mumps in children
goodtoknow says: Very few children now get mumps in the UK thanks to the MMR (measles,mumps and rubella) vaccine. Mumps mainly affects children and teenagers although adults can get it too. If your child has mumps they'll have a hamster-like swollen face and a high temperature. Mumps is a viral infection of the main salivary glands. Mumps can make chewing and swallowing painful and lead to mild stomach ache. Complete recovery is quick. The best treatment for mumps is bed rest, plenty of fluids and paracetamol to lower your child's temperature. Boys may also get swollen testicles. In rare cases mumps can cause infertility.
For a full medical explanation of the causes, symptoms and treatments of mumps from patient.co.uk, read on.
Mumps is an infection caused by the mumps virus. It mainly affects the salivary glands but sometimes other parts of the body are affected. Mumps normally affects children, but can occur at any age. Mumps is now rare in the UK as children are routinely immunised against mumps.
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kelly, 7 months
my son has got mumps even though he has had the mmr jab twice!! personally i dont think this jab is working properly, time will tell if my other 6 children get infected aswell (they have all had the jab)
Report this commentcharlotte mitchell, about 1 year
my mum has mumps at the moment and i am wondering if the lump is supposed to be getting bigger as it doesnt seem to be going it is just getting worse and she has had it for 7 days now.
Report this commentKim, about 1 year
I have had both the MMR as a baby and the booster in high school and I have mumps at the moment I am still waiting for my blood test results but the doctor was convinced its mumps as i look like a hamster on one side and i am in a lot of pain. I don't understand how somebody who has had two mmr jabs can still contract mumps i am only 19 so surely its protection wouldnt have been worn out already. I am unable to go out and go to uni because im contagious but apparently you are most contagious before the symptoms come out and with a incubation period of 12 - 35 days surely I have infected people already it's so frustrating!
Report this commentamy, about 1 year
please could you tell me if mumps is contagious at any time you have it
Report this commentpippa, about 1 year
I'm very sceptical about the MMR and mumps. Both my two girls had had their MMR and both got mumps - swelling of the parotid gland - looking like hamsters, temperatures etc. Tey both had a saliver test and apparently it had not been mumps. The doctor was completely convinced initially. what else could it be? Now, a friend's child also has mumps, despite having had the MMR... I want to know if there is a strain of mumps which is not defeated by the vaccine or if the vaccine is not working?
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Nicholas Yule, 5 months
I got the MMR jab in highschool and contracted the mumps too...a few years later when i was 21. I had a left testical the size of a large lemon, couldn't walk and was admitted to hospital. it was not good. girls are lucky when it comes to the mumps, i feel sorry for the guys that get two lemon sized testicals cos i can assure you there was not anymore stretch space left. my doctor was incompitant, when i first went and sent me home refusing to beleive it was the mumps. sad but true
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