Mumps is a contagious viral disease that causes painful swelling of the salivary glands. As a result, people infected with mumps sometimes appear to have “chipmunk cheeks.”
Other symptoms include fever, headache, sore muscles, and fatigue. Serious complications are rare, and may include encephalitis (swelling of the brain), inflammation of the sex organs, and deafness.
The mumps virus is transmitted by contact with the respiratory secretions of an infected person. Like measles, mumps has a relatively long incubation period, with symptoms appearing more than two weeks after exposure.
There are no specific treatments available for mumps, but the disease can be prevented by immunization. Following the introduction of the mumps vaccine in 1967, reported mumps cases had declined to fewer than 1,000 per year in the U.S. In recent years, however, mumps cases have increased.