Mumps - Infectious Parotitis
Mumps is an acute viral disease that usually causes acute swelling and increased sensitivity of one or more of the saliva glands. I remember when I caught mumps as a young child: My cheeks became very tender and they were so swollen that I looked like a hampster storing food!
Mumps is most common during winter and spring and is spread by contact with the saliva or mucus of the infected person. An infected person is contagious for around a week and half when the symptoms first appear.
Mumps is most often found in young children, although cases of adult infection sometimes happen. Once recovered from the virus, the person is normally immune to further infection. In some adult male cases, infection with the mumps virus can lead to testicular swelling and even sterility.
Mumps is also linked to other afflictions such as (full or partial) temporary deafness, pancreatitis and disorders of the central nervous system, such as meningitis and encephalitis.
Young children are usually innoculated against mumps around their first birthday, usually in the form of the combined MMR 'jab'.