Bureau of Immunization

Mumps (Infectious Parotitis)

What is mumps?

Mumps is a viral illness that affects the salivary glands.

Who gets mumps?

People of any age can get mumps, but in the United States most cases of mumps occurs in children between 5 and 19 years old.

How is mumps spread?

Like influenza, mumps is spreads on respiratory droplets that are released when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

What are the symptoms of mumps?

Symptoms include fever, body aches, headaches, and swelling of the salivary glands. The parotid gland, situated just below and in front of the ear, is most often affected. About a third of people who contract the mumps virus do not develop symptoms.

What should I do if I think I or my child has been exposed to mumps?

If a person who has not been vaccinated gets infected with mumps, receiving the vaccine will not help prevent disease. If an unvaccinated person is exposed to mumps but does not become infected, the vaccine will help protect the person from future infection.

If I or my child have mumps, what can I do to avoid spreading it to others?

• Stay at home for 5 days after symptoms begin.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
• Wash you hands frequently with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand cleaner.

Posters on preventing the spread of germs are available online. See NYC Health Department posters or CDC Cover Your Cough poster.

What complications have been associated with mumps?

• The mumps virus can infiltrate the central nervous system, but the resulting illness (viral meningitis) is usually not serious. Headache and stiff neck occur in up to 15% of people with mumps.
• Males who are past puberty may experience orchitis, or testicular inflamma­tion. It causes pain, swelling, nausea, vomiting and fever. The affected area may remain tender for weeks. Approximately half of patients with orchitis experience some atrophy of the testicles, but they rarely lose the ability to produce sperm.
• Some women experience inflammation of the ovaries or breasts from mumps.
• Deafness, in one or both ears, occurs in approximately one person out of 20,000 who develops mumps.

How soon after infection do symptoms occur?

Symptoms usually occur 14 to 18 days after infection, but they can start within 12 days or take as long as 25 days.

When and for how long can an infected person spread mumps?

People with mumps are usually contagious from 2 days before to 5 days after they develop symptoms. A person is most contagious just before symptoms appear.

Does infection with mumps give you immunity?

Yes, infection provides lifelong immunity to mumps.

Is there a vaccine for mumps?

Yes, mumps vaccine is given on or after a child's first birthday. It is usually combined with measles and rubella vaccines in a formulation known as MMR (measles, mumps, rubella). A second dose of mumps vaccine is recommended before children enter school at 4 to 6 years of age. Anyone who has received 2 doses of mumps vaccine is much less likely to develop mumps. For information on where your child can get vaccinated, call 311.

Should children receive MMR vaccine before they are 12 months old?

No, MMR vaccination is not recommended before a child’s first birthday for protection against mumps.

How quickly does the vaccine have an effect?

The body usually takes 10 to 14 days to mount a response to the first dose of mumps vaccine. Full immunity isn’t achieved until approximately seven days after the second dose.

Is an early second dose of MMR vaccine recommended for children?

No, the second dose should be scheduled when the child is 4 to 6 years old, except in unusual circumstances. If a child who has received one dose of MMR vaccine is exposed to mumps before receiving a second dose, the Health Department recommends administering the second dose early – but the child should be at least a year old, and the second dose should be administered at least a  month after the first. Even then, the early second dose may not provide immediate protection.

Does a third dose of MMR vaccine have any benefit?

If an individual does not respond to the first two doses of vaccine, a third dose is not likely to provide any additional protection.

Is there any danger in giving a third dose?

No, there is no evidence that having more than two doses of MMR vaccine causes harm.  Patients who are unsure of their vaccination history should receive another dose to ensure they are fully immunized.

Is the mumps virus circulating in New York Cityin November 2009 different from the usual mumps strain?

No, the same strain has caused other outbreaks in the United States and the United Kingdom. The current MMR vaccine covers this strain.

Why are so many cases occurring in vaccinated people?

Studies suggest that the mumps vaccine is 76% to 95% effective. That means that for every 100 people vaccinated, 76 to 95 of them will be fully protected but 5 to 24 will remain susceptible to the disease. (By comparison, the measles vaccine is about 98% effective.) Though mumps vaccination cannot protect everyone, it greatly reduces the number of people who get sick when exposed to the virus. If a community maintains a high vaccination rate, the risk of exposure declines too.

Have mumps outbreaks occurred in vaccinated people before?

Yes, in 2006 there was an outbreak of mumps in the Midwestern United States. The outbreak occurred predominantly among college students who had already been vaccinated.

November 2009