Mumps

Mumps is a contagious disease that is caused by the mumps virus. Mumps typically starts with a few days of fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, and loss of appetite, and is followed by swelling of salivary glands (often referred to as parotitis when the parotid gland, located in front and below the ear, swells). This is what causes the puffy cheeks and a tender, swollen jaw. Some vaccinated people may still get mumps if they are exposed to the virus. However, disease symptoms are milder in vaccinated people.

Mumps Basics

  • About Mumps
    General information from the CDC about mumps, including transmission, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment.

Reporting

  • Reporting Mumps
    All suspect cases of mumps should be reported within 7 days to the District Health Office or Georgia Department of Public Health (1-866-PUB-HLTH).

Vaccine Information

Mumps Information for Health Professionals

Clinical Features and Epidemiology

  • Clinical Information
    Information about mumps, including clinical features, medical management, antibiotics and preventive measures.

Mumps Laboratory Testing

Mumps should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with parotitis or swelling of the salivary glands, regardless of vaccination history. DPH encourages health care providers to consider other infectious and non-infectious causes of parotitis, since negative lab results cannot be used to rule out mumps infection.

If mumps is suspected, laboratory testing should be performed. Acute mumps infection can be detected by the presence of serum mumps IgM, a significant rise in IgG antibody titer in acute and convalescent-phase serum specimens, IgG seroconversion, positive mumps virus culture, or detection of virus by real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR).

Reporting

  • Reporting Mumps
    All suspect cases of mumps should be reported to the Georgia Department of Public Health. Find out more about what needs to be reported, who needs to report diseases, which forms to use and where to find out more about the disease.

 

 

Page last updated 12/22/2022