A contagious but self-limiting viral infection, mumps, is back on the radar of public health officials after cases surfaced in Tamil Nadu in January and surged in the last two to three months.
While public health officials say there is no need for panic, doctors underscore the need to seek medical help in case of symptoms.
T.S. Selvavinayagam, Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, said that cases surfaced in January and reached 500 during March-April. Now, it had declined to less than 200. The cases were mostly among older children. “We are hoping that the cases will reduce further,” he said.
With mumps being reported in a few other States as well, Dr. Selvavinayagam said that it might be due to declining immunity.
“There is no vaccine against mumps in the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP). There is no need to panic as it is a self-limiting disease, and diagnosis is obvious,” he said.
If it is causing any severe disease, the virus needs to be investigated, he added.
Janani Sankar, medical director, Kanchi Kamakoti CHILDS Trust Hospital, said that there were several cases of mumps during March and April, and that the number dipped slightly in May.
“We would have seen at least 100 outpatients, while 20 children needed admission. The government has only the measles rubella vaccine in the UIP, and not the one against mumps,” she said. Earlier, the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine was part of the UIP.
In children, the symptoms included swelling of the parotid region; mostly unilateral but sometimes bilateral. “Some of the complications that we had seen in children needing hospitalisation are pancreatitis, meningoencephalitis, and orchitis,” she added.
Suresh Kumar, consultant, Infectious Diseases, Apollo Hospitals, said that many physicians were seeing at least one or two cases every day.
“We have been seeing cases (in adults) in the last three to four months. We haven’t seen this many cases in the last decade. Physicians are used to seeing only one case in three or six months. The symptoms are fever that usually subsides in two or three days, pain near the ears, and swelling starting with one part of the face. The swelling subsequently affects other regions, especially the parotid glands (located on either side of the face below the ears),” he said.
While pain and swelling are common, there could be a small amount of abdominal discomfort. “One or two out of five men we see have testicular pain and swelling,” Dr. Suresh Kumar said.
While PCR testing for mumps is not available in hospitals in the city, serological testing — IgM and IgG — has limitations, he said.
IgM indicates current infection and IgG indicates past infection or vaccine-related immunity.
“While the MMR vaccine is part of childhood immunisation (offered by private paediatricians), a booster shot, ideally at 15 or 16 years of age, is recommended as this surge in cases is due to waning immunity levels,” Dr. Suresh Kumar said.
“Treatment is symptomatic as there is no specific antiviral medication. Patients need to isolate themselves to prevent spread to others. They should seek medical help,” he said.
