What are mumps?
Caused by a virus that infects the salivary glands near the jawbone, mumps is a highly contagious illness that shows up mainly in swelling and soreness in the jaw area. The swelling is usually on both sides, so that the sufferer bears a passing resemblance to a chipmunk. In some cases, though, one side may puff up several days before the other. Your child may run a fever and complain that it hurts to swallow or talk, and may have a headache or earache. The virus travels throughout the body, infecting the spinal fluid, the pancreas, and the testicles or ovaries, but most children don’t have symptoms in these places. Mumps used to be one of the common illnesses of childhood, but today, thanks to a vaccine, it’s rare in the United States. In 1968, before the vaccine became available, there were 152,000 cases; now there are 265 cases a year.
