Mumps is one of the most common childhood illnesses that, while serious, is the least contagious of the major children’s diseases. For an individual with mumps, the virus that causes it is only contagious about three days before and seven to eight days after the disease breaks out. Even then, contracting it from someone else requires incredibly close contact. Because of this, simply keeping a kid out of school is an effective way of ensuring mumps doesn’t spread.

Catching Mumps

Mumps is brought on by a virus called paramyxovirus. This is spread due to airborne droplets that come from either the nose or the mouth. When an individual inhales these droplets, the virus gets into the body. Once the virus is in the body, it then begins to move around the entire bloodstream. Because of this, the virus spreads everywhere: thyroid gland, pancreas, sex glands, kidneys, salivary gland and numerous other glands.

While it is such a common childhood illness, it typically doesn’t pop up in children that are not at least two years old. While researchers have not figured out why this is, they have pinpointed that most patients with mumps are at least two years old. More importantly, because most children get the MMR vaccination, they are less likely to ever get mumps.

Symptoms of Mumps

Once the individual has contracted mumps, it typically takes upward of two weeks for the virus to actually incubate. Once the virus has incubated, the first two days of the illness is marked with severe discomfort and a temperature that continues to rise. As the illness continues to progress, an uncomfortable feeling in the jawbone might occur along with swelling of the parotid glands which are salivary glands.

As the illness continues to progress, the body temperature can rise upward of 40 degrees Celsius or 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Due to the swelling of glands, the earlobes begin to stick out and the entire face looks incredibly swollen. When trying to open the mouth to chew food, there is excruciating pain.

When the mumps are mild, the swelling might only last for three to four days. However, there are cases of severe mumps where they can go on for a week or longer. The doctor will be able to pinpoint the mumps based on these symptoms and it is incredibly important to go to the doctor. If action isn’t taken, the virus can spread to other glands and cause tremendous complications there as well.