Where is mumps most commonly found

This content does not have an Arabic version. Overview Salivary glands Open pop-up dialog box Close. Salivary glands You have three pairs of major salivary glands — parotid, sublingual and submandibular. Mumps Open pop-up dialog box Close. Mumps Mumps is characterized by swollen, painful salivary glands in the face, causing the cheeks to puff out.

Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic. Share on: Facebook Twitter. Show references Kliegman RM, et al. In: Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. Philadelphia, Pa. Accessed July 14, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rochester, Minn. Accessed July 13, Ramanathan R, et al. Knowledge gaps persist and hinder progress in eliminating mumps. Ferri FF. Two large outbreaks in Iowa and Illinois each involved several hundred university students.

About half of the outbreaks involved more than 10 cases. From September 1, to August 22, , 19 state health departments reported mumps cases in adult migrants detained in 57 detention facilities. From to , two large outbreaks occurred. One outbreak involved over 3, people and mostly affected students who were part of a close-knit religious community in New York City external icon and attended schools where they participated in close-contact activities.

The outbreak started when an infected student returned from the United Kingdom where a large mumps outbreak was occurring. The second outbreak involved about people, mostly school-aged children, in the U. Territory of Guam external icon. In , the United States experienced a multi-state mumps outbreak involving more than 6, reported cases. This resurgence mostly affected Midwest college-aged students on many different Midwestern college campuses external icon.

For more information about mumps outbreaks see Mumps Outbreak Articles. But mumps can lead to viral meningitis if the virus moves into the outer layer of the brain. Other complications include swelling of the testicles or ovaries if the affected person has gone through puberty. Find out more about the complications of mumps. Most cases of mumps occur in younger adults who did not receive the MMR vaccine as part of their childhood vaccination schedule and did not have mumps as a child.

Older adults who were born in the UK before the vaccine was introduced are likely to have had mumps as a child. Once you have been infected by the mumps virus, you normally develop a life-long immunity to further infection. The MMR vaccine was introduced in The affected salivary glands are called the parotid glands; sometimes, the mumps virus can also cause inflammation of the testis, ovary, pancreas, or meninges membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord.

To reduce the spread of mumps, the MMR measles , mumps, and rubella vaccine is often given at an early age to build immunity to the virus. Since the MMR vaccination was brought in, there has been a 99 percent decrease in mumps cases in the United States.

The symptoms of mumps normally appear weeks after the patient has been infected. However, almost 20 percent of people with the virus do not suffer any symptoms at all. Over the next few days, the classic symptoms of mumps will develop. The swelling normally does not occur in one go — it happens in waves. Rarely, adults can contract mumps. In these cases, the symptoms are generally the same, but sometimes slightly worse and complications are slightly more likely.

Because mumps is viral, antibiotics cannot be used to treat it, and at present, there are no anti-viral medications that can treat mumps. Current treatment can only help relieve the symptoms until the infection has run its course and the body has built up an immunity, much like a cold. In most cases, people recover from mumps within 2 weeks.

Some steps can be taken to help relieve the symptoms of mumps:.