Mumps

The mumps is a contagious and potentially serious, but entirely preventable illness caused by a virus that produces fever, swelling of the salivary glands on one or both sides of the face, muscle aches and severe fatigue. These symptoms may appear within as few as 12 days and as many as 25 days after a person has been infected. Mumps is transferred from person to person through contact with droplets of an infected person’s saliva on surfaces or in the air – so an unvaccinated person can get it from someone who is coughing or talking near them, or by not washing their hands after coming in contact with something that an infected person’s saliva has touched. Children are usually vaccinated against the mumps with the MMR vaccine at between one year old and 15 months, with a second dose administered at four to six years of age. College students and those living in group settings, as well as all adults born in 1957 or thereafter who don’t have a record of being vaccinated against the mumps are recommended to receive the MMR vaccine.