Mumps

Signs and Symptoms

1. Low fever from 100 to 101 degrees.

2. Swollen, inflamed neck glands below the ear near the jawbone, on one or both sides of the face.

3. Headache.

4. Earache (sometimes).

5. Loss of appetite.

6. Fatigue.

7. Nausea and vomiting (sometimes).

8. In adults, swelling in one or both testes in men; swelling or ovaries in women. (sometimes)

What to do now

1. Make sure your child gets lots of rest as long as he or she has a fever.

2. Provide plenty of liquids and a diet of soft foods, such as soups, cooked vegetables, and fruits. But don’t offer sour fruits and juices, which can irritate swollen glands.

3. To ease discomfort, apply ice packs, warm cloths, or heating pads to swollen areas.

4. Give your child acetaminophen or ibuprofen to ease pain and reduce fever if doctor prescribes. (Never give aspirin to a child under 12 who has mumps, chicken pox, flu, or any other illness you suspect of being caused by a virus).

When to call a doctor

1. If your child has mumps and feels severe abdominal pain or vomits; this could signal an inflamed pancreas.

2. If your child has the symptoms of mumps and a severe headache, neck pain, listlessness, or unusual behavior; this could indicate meningitis.

3. If you suspect your child has mumps.

How to prevent it

1. Make sure that your child gets the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine. This will help prevent mumps. The injection is usually given at 12 months, with a booster at 12 years.

2. To prevent other children from infection of mumps from your child, keep him or her home for seven to ten days after the swelling appears. Don’t send him or her to school.