What do you know about "mumps"?
The disease "mumps" has been familiar to people since ancient times: in the IV century BC Hippocrates made the first description of this disease. And only in the XX century began a detailed study of the disease after the discovery of the causative agent - parotitis virus. Despite the fact that an available vaccine against the virus has been invented, parotitis continues to pose a certain threat to human health and there are several objective reasons for this, which are presented in this article.
"Parotitis" literally translates as "inflammation of the parotid salivary gland", but the name does not reflect the essence of the disease. Parotitis can affect not only the salivary glands, but all glands of the body: thyroid, pancreas, ovaries and testicles. This fact is the first reason why mumps is dangerous, especially for men. Inflammation of the testicles (orchitis) can lead to atrophy of this reproductive organ and, consequently, to infertility. According to Australian scientists, men have a 30 per cent chance of the disease spreading to the testicles. Half of these cases end in testicular atrophy. In men who did not follow bed rest during parotitis, orchitis occurred 3 times more often than in patients who were hospitalised within the first three days after the onset of the disease.
The pancreas is another organ that is most often affected by the virus, with pancreatitis occurring in almost one in twenty people who have had parotitis. However, pancreatitis itself is not as bad as the likelihood of developing diabetes mellitus. Although there are various disputes about this fact, but nevertheless, this theory is not unfounded. To prevent pancreatitis and diabetes mellitus, it is recommended to follow a diet: limit the total volume of food, fatty foods and with easily digestible carbohydrates, preferable dairy and vegetable diet.
The parotitis virus also poses a certain danger to pregnant women. The same Austrian scientists publish data that 27% of pregnancies end in spontaneous abortion if a woman falls ill during this period.
In addition to glandular tissue, the virus also affects the nervous tissue, which also has its clinical manifestations. The most common are meningitis and encephalitis, i.e. damage to the brain and its membranes. In children, the risk of unilateral deafness (0.005%) remains due to anatomical features of the organism.
Vaccination against parotitis is included in the list of compulsory vaccinations. But according to the WHO, the vaccine provides only 80 per cent protection against mumps. In addition, even if a person has once contracted the disease, there are still official cases of re-infection (Robert Koch Institute).
Parotitis is considered a highly contagious infection. Transmitted by airborne droplets (coughing, sneezing, talking), the risk of infection is 70-80%. Mumps is characterised by outbreaks in collectives, especially children. The peak incidence of the disease is in March-April. The patient is contagious 1-2 days before specific manifestations in the form of salivary gland oedema and up to 9 days after the onset of the disease. Nevertheless, every fourth case has an erased clinical picture, masquerading as an ordinary acute respiratory viral infection: malaise, general weakness, fever, sore throat. In such situations, only laboratory diagnosis helps to make an accurate diagnosis and take certain measures against the threat of complications.
Laboratory diagnostics in OLYMP CDL has two directions: determination of IgM class antibodies to detect the current disease, and IgG class antibodies - to determine the presence of immunity to parotitis, which is necessary to decide on the expediency of repeated vaccination and isolation of the subject from the centre of the disease. In conclusion, it is worth adding that the timely detection of mumps makes it possible not only to take all necessary measures to prevent complications, but also to stop the spread of the disease within the patient's family and environment
Attention! You can be tested for suspected parotitis and active immunity to mumps in any treatment room of the OLYMP CDL branches. Details in the section "Tests and prices".
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Mumps; parotitis; parotitis virus; parotitis diagnosis; mumps diagnosis; parotitis tests; mumps tests