Mumps: symptoms in adults, treatment and prevention

Mumps is an acute viral disease, which in official medicine is referred to as mumps. The source of infection in this case is only a sick person, and it becomes contagious even a couple of days before the first symptoms of the disease appear and in the first 5 days of the disease. The mumps virus is transmitted by airborne droplets, but doctors do not exclude the household route of infection, for example, through contaminated objects.

People have a high susceptibility to this disease, children are more often affected by the virus, but cases of adult infection are not uncommon. Regarding the development and course of mumps in childhood, there is quite informative on our website, the course of mumps in adults will be considered in the same material.

Symptoms of mumps in adults

In principle, the signs of the disease in question in adults and children are identical. From the moment the virus enters the body and until the first signs of the disease appear, 11-23 days pass - this period is called the incubation period, the person does not feel sick at all, but already a week before the end of the incubation period it poses a danger to others, as it becomes contagious.

After the latent period, the mumps enters the acute phase of the course, and just at that moment its symptoms appear:

an increase in body temperature up to 40 degrees - this happens during the day and the temperature does not decrease throughout the week;
severe intoxication, which is accompanied by general malaise,;
the constant presence of a feeling of dryness in the mouth;
increased salivation;
severe pain when opening the mouth, chewing and swallowing food;
pain in the ear area, which becomes more intense during a conversation.

The most striking sign of the development of the disease in question is the formation of specific swelling near the auricles. The cause of these swellings is inflammation of the parotid salivary gland - the mumps virus is most often localized in them. The swelling near the auricles reaches its maximum by the 7th day of the course of the disease, and then begins to gradually decrease. When touching the swelling, the patient often feels pain, and for adults, the appearance of intense, aching pain in the muscles and joints will also be characteristic.

Mumps in adults is very difficult, even signs of intoxication of the body will appear more intense. In addition, the disease under consideration often leads to pathological lesions of the pancreas and central nervous system. We are talking about complications, and in the first case, the patient will be diagnosed (an inflammatory process in the pancreas), but damage to the central nervous system may occur.

Treatment of mumps in adults

There is no special drug for the treatment of the disease in question; doctors in practice use complex therapeutic measures to eliminate specific symptoms.

General principles of therapy for mumps in adults:

It is very important for adults to observe bed rest - with a mumps they will have to lie in bed for at least 10 days. Another point that will help avoid the development of complications from the pancreas is the correction of the diet. Patients with mumps must observe the following rules:

the menu should be dominated by dairy and vegetable products;
overeating should not be allowed;
for the duration of the illness, you need to limit the use of pasta, fats and white bread;
spicy, fried foods, marinades and pickles should be abandoned;
it is better to grind food into puree - so it will be easier for the patient to swallow it.

Possible Complications

If the mumps virus enters the body of an adult, then all glandular organs can be affected by it. It has already been said about the pancreas, but complications of the disease in question can also be (inflammation of the testicles in men) and (inflammation of the ovaries in women).

In rare cases, adults who have had mumps later suffer from hearing loss. Even more rarely, a complication of mumps is complete hearing loss.

Mumps vaccine

More recently, it was believed that vaccination, which is carried out in childhood, will save you from mumps. But modern medicine claims that over time, the effect of the vaccine weakens, and an adult may well become infected with the mumps virus.