Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast. My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be

talking to you about mumps. And if you want to follow along with written notes on this topic,

you can follow along at zero to finals.com slash mumps or in the infectious diseases section of

the zero to finals Pediatrics book.

So let's get straight into it.

Mumps is a viral infection spread by respiratory droplets.

The incubation period is 14 to 25 days.

Mumps is usually a self-limiting condition that lasts around one week.

A management is supportive and involves treating the complications if they occur. Taking a vaccination history is essential when considering

a diagnosis of mumps. The MMR vaccine offers around 80% protection against mumps. Let's talk about

the presentation of mumps.

Patients experience an initial period of flu-like symptoms which are known as the

prodrome.

These symptoms occur a few days before the perotid swelling.

These symptoms involve fever, muscle aches, lethargy, reduced appetite, headache and dry mouth.

The key feature that should make you think about a diagnosis of mumps is parotid gland swelling,

either unilateral or bilateral with associated pain.

Mumps can also present with symptoms of the complications such as abdominal pain due to pancreatitis, testicular pain and swelling due to orchitis, or

confusion, neck stiffness and headache relating to meningitis or encephalitis.

Let's talk about management. The diagnosis can be confirmed using PCR testing on a saliva swab.

The blood or saliva can also be tested for antibodies to the mumps virus.

Practically, the diagnosis can be made clinically and there's no need for investigations where it's a clear diagnosis.

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