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Mumps
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Mumps is a contagious viral infection. The culprit is a paramyxovirus, a virus whose genetic material is single-stranded RNA, and it has one distinctive feature: it is the only known cause of epidemic parotitis, meaning outbreaks of swelling in the salivary glands.
The virus first multiplies in the epithelium of the upper airway, the layer of cells that lines the inside of the nose and throat. From there it moves to the nearby lymph nodes, and from those nodes it reaches the bloodstream. Once it is in the blood it is no longer confined to one place: it can inflame the salivary glands, the testicles, the ovaries and the pancreas.
What shows up in more than seven out of ten infections is parotitis: swelling of the parotid, one of the salivary glands. The swelling sits right where the jaw meets the earlobe.
In brief
Mumps is a contagious viral illness caused by an RNA paramyxovirus, and it is the only known cause of epidemic parotitis.
The virus replicates in the upper airway epithelium; from regional lymph nodes it enters the bloodstream and inflames the salivary glands, testes, ovaries, and pancreas.
Parotitis occurs in more than 70% of infections, with painful swelling between the earlobe and the jaw.
The swelling sits right where the jaw meets the earlobe.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingMumps, StatPearlsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated