Mumps Outbreak Hits Kerala: 2,505 Cases Reported This Month
According to a report, 190 cases of the mumps were recorded on Sunday in the southern state of Kerala, where an outbreak has been reported. The number of cases of this viral infection reported this month is 2,505, and over the first two months of this year, it has increased to 11,467, according to data from the Kerala health department.
The report also stated that officials from the Union health ministry confirmed the outbreak and said the state’s National Center for Disease Control has been notified.
According to the report, the majority of the cases are being reported from the Malappuram district and other areas of north Kerala. Although there is a vaccine to prevent rubella, measles, and mumps, it is not included in the government’s universal immunization program.
Kerala Sees Mumps Outbreak, Records 190 Cases In A Day#Mumps #Kerala #PowerCorridors pic.twitter.com/ixeoF49QRQ
— POWER CORRIDORS (@power_corridors) March 12, 2024
Understanding Mumps: Transmission, and Vaccination Options
The paramyxovirus, which causes mumps, is spread by direct contact or airborne droplets from an infected person’s upper respiratory tract. Within two to four weeks, the symptoms usually start to manifest. These include a slight fever, headache, body aches, and exhaustion.
The enlargement of the salivary glands is the primary sign of the disease. Even though infections are typically seen in young children, they can also affect adults and adolescents.
Experts in public health claim that private clinics offer the mumps, measles, and rubella (MMR) vaccination to children, protecting them against all three illnesses.
Also Read: Gujarat coast: Six Pakistanis detained with drugs worth Rs 480 crore
Understanding Mumps: Symptoms, Progression, and Complications
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that the common symptoms of mumps are pain, tenderness, and swelling in one or both of the parotid salivary glands, which are found in the cheek and jaw region.
Usually, swelling peaks in one to three days and then progressively goes down over the course of the next week. The angle of the jawbone beneath the ear may become obscured as the swelling increases, and the parotid gland may swell to the point where the jawbone is no longer palpable.
Furthermore, 10% of the time, less often, there is swelling in other salivary glands, such as the sublingual and submandibular glands beneath the floor of the mouth.
People may have nonspecific prodromal symptoms, such as headaches, general discomfort, muscle soreness, loss of appetite, and mild fever lasting three to four days, several days before parotitis actually manifests.
Additionally, a mumps infection may show no symptoms at all, only respiratory symptoms, or nonspecific symptoms at all.
Patients with the mumps may either develop recurrent parotitis, in which the parotitis resolves on one side but recurs on the opposite side weeks to months later, or they may experience reinfection after a spontaneous infection.
