What is parotitis? Causes, treatment and prevention

Surely many mothers, in whose families the boys grow up, know about such a disease as parotitis. After all, it is the boys who are struck by this attack twice as often as the girls. And those who have no idea what kind of disease it is and careless about it, refusing to vaccinate their child, are simply obliged to get to know this illness more closely. So what is parotitis? What are the causes of this disease, the characteristics of the course and treatment? All this you will find in our article.

What is parotitis?

In the common people, parotitis disease (photo of the patient is presented above) is called "mumps", because during infection there is a strong swelling in the neck and behind the ears. It is considered mainly a child's ailment. But to exclude the risk of the appearance of mumps in adults is impossible. The disease itself was mentioned as far back as the 5th century BC. E., But all information about what parotitis and what his symptoms, appeared only in the 20 century.

This is an acute infectious disease caused by a virus called paramyxovirus. It is extremely unstable, and can be easily destroyed by boiling or ultraviolet radiation. But paramixovirus is stable in cold conditions, that is, it can be stored for a long time at a temperature of minus 70-80 degrees Celsius. The most typical manifestation of this disease is the inflammation of the salivary glands, as a result of which their enlargement occurs. Parotitis mainly affects children from 3-15 years. There is an opinion that they suffer from mumps only once, since the acquired immunity is considered lifelong, but cases of repeated infection are often encountered. In nature, this disease is spread only among people, so you can get infected only from a sick person, but not from wild and domestic animals.

Anyone who does not have immunity to the virus can get sick with pigs. After all, it occurs only in cases of vaccination, or in those cases if a person has already been ill with mumps. Infecting paramyxovirus can be either airborne or contact, for example, a healthy child takes a toy in his mouth, which was lately licked by a sick kid.

Also for this disease is a season, especially frequent cases of infection occur in the spring, and at the end of summer parititis is almost never recorded. The incubation period in children and adults is slightly different: the child - from 12 to 23 days, and in adults - from 11 to 25 days.

Parotitis is extremely dangerous for pregnant women, especially in the first trimester. Infection can lead to fetal fading or miscarriage. In the rest of the period, it is not so dangerous, but on the last term it can provoke a pronounced jaundice in a newborn.

Classification of the disease

Parotitis is divided by severity of the disease into three forms:

1. The mild form is accompanied by a short-term rise in temperature and a lesion of the exclusively salivary glands.
2. The form of moderate severity is accompanied by general weakness, disturbance of appetite and sleep, prolonged fever and defeat of other glandular organs.
3. The severe form is characterized by the defeat of many glands, including the central nervous system. The temperature for heavy mumps can rise to 40 degrees. The risk of serious complications is great.

This disease is also divided into a typical and atypical form.

I. For a typical form, there are clear signs. And it can be as isolated, when only signs of mumps and combined, when the symptoms of mumps and other concomitant diseases are combined.

II. During the atypical form, symptoms may be completely absent.

The course of mumps also depends on the age of the patient. Children carry mumps much easier than adults.

Causes of the disease

As already mentioned, the main cause that causes parotitis is an infection, or rather a paramyxovirus. The portal for its penetration is the mucosa of the upper respiratory tract, that is, infection occurs through conversation, coughing or sneezing from a sick person. You can also pick up the infection through household items, that is, if the patient's saliva gets on the towel, the dishes, then after using their healthy person, the risk of infection increases.

After the virus gets on the mucous membrane, it starts to accumulate there, and then gets into the blood channel. And the channel is distributed to all organs. A favorite place of the virus is the glandular organs, where it settles and begins to multiply actively. Of course, some part of it gets to other organs, but there is often no inflammation. But our immune system always stands on the body's defense, and it begins to actively develop antibodies that bind the virus and remove it from the body. These antibodies remain in the human body for life, and prevent re-infection.

Symptoms in children

Even if the child has already contracted, then at first everything happens as always, there are no signs of talking about the disease. But the very next day the first signs of mumps appear:

• Raise body temperature to 38-39 degrees.
• A small runny nose, a sore throat.

These symptoms can be confused with ARVI. But after another day with parotitis, there is swelling of the salivary gland in the parotid zone, first from one side, and then the other side begins to swell. The whole process of inflammation of the glands is accompanied by dry mouth, an unpleasant odor from the mouth and soreness in the edema zone. In addition, it is difficult and painful for a child to chew food, talk. Since parotitis disrupted normal salivation, and saliva has antibacterial properties, it is possible the appearance of stomatitis on the mucosa of the oral cavity.

If, together with the main symptoms of mumps, there are signs of a stomach upset such as heaviness, bloating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, then here it is possible to talk about a pancreatic lesion.

If other glandular organs are attacked, the symptoms of complicated mumps are as follows:

• The girls have ovarian inflammation, which is accompanied by pain in the lower abdomen, nausea and general malaise.
• In boys with a complicated form of mumps, inflammation of the testicle occurs. Appears redness and swelling in the scrotum. All this is accompanied by soreness.

The child may have a disease with erased symptoms, that is, probably a slight increase in temperature, with no swelling observed. And the temperature passes three days later. It happens that the child has mumps in an asymptomatic manner. This form of the disease carries no danger, only this child is considered infectious and can infect other children.

Symptoms in adults

The main symptomatology of the disease in adults is similar to that of a child, but in an adult, the risk of more complex mumps is many times greater. The first signs of mumps in adults are:

• Chills.
• Headache.
• Muscle pain.
• Coryza.
• Cough and discomfort in the throat.
• Unpleasant sensations in the zone where the salivary glands are located.

Further to these symptoms, edema of the parotid region is added, and for adults, simultaneous inflammation of the salivary glands from both sides is characteristic. Very often the mumps virus affects the submaxillary and sublingual glands. Puffiness accompanies a person up to 10 days, then decreases. When chewing, the patient develops painful sensations, and it is also difficult for a person to talk. In a dream, a patient can not long choose a pose for sleep, as lying on her side becomes unpleasant, which is why a person has insomnia during the period of the disease. Salivation is severely impaired, resulting in a xerostomia (dry mouth) and impaired appetite. Such an acute period can last up to 4 days, gradually subsiding by the end of the week. In adults, the appearance of a rash in the form of dense and red spots throughout the body is likely.

How is parotitis diagnosed?

Many will think, and what is difficult in establishing such a diagnosis, as parotitis ?! After all, all the signs are obvious, when the face looks like a pig's muzzle. But not always so simple. The fact is that the swelling of the salivary glands can accompany another disease. Therefore, only the doctor can give an accurate diagnosis after a full-time examination of the patient. In addition to visual inspection, the doctor asks the patient several questions about his state of health and complaints, and also specifies, perhaps, the patient recently communicated with sick mumps. The doctor then appoints laboratory studies. As a rule, the analysis of urine in this case is not informative, it can only show that there is an infection in the body. The most modern method for determining mumps is the reaction of immunofluorescence. It allows you to get reliable results in the shortest time, namely 2-3 days later. A method for determining the presence of antibodies to mumps is also used.

Treatment of mumps

As such treatment itself, this disease is not carried out, all the forces rush only to exclude the possibility of complications. As a rule, a patient with mumps can not be hospitalized, except in cases when there are signs of an aggressive course of the disease. Therefore, if the patient has the following symptoms, you need to immediately call an ambulance:

• Severe headaches.
• Nausea with vomiting.
• Convulsions.
• Loss of consciousness.
• Numbness in certain parts of the body.
• Hearing and vision impairment.
• Abdominal pain.

If the patient has an easy form of such a disease as parotitis, the treatment is carried out at home. The doctor appoints:

1. Bed rest.
2. Abundant drink.
3. A diet in which all artificial and harmful products will be absent. Also the food should be warm, soft, without sharp and roast.
4. Rinse the mouth with boiled water or a solution of boric acid.
5. Antiviral drugs, immunomodulators, immunostimulants and antipyretic if there is a strong temperature.
6. It is also recommended to apply dry heat to the swollen area.

With a severe form of mumps, hospitalization is necessary. Depending on the type of complication, appropriate treatment is prescribed.

When joining meningitis or polyneuropathy, the prescription of some drugs is added to the above. In addition, strict bed rest is shown. Appointed drugs that improve cerebral blood flow. To avoid cerebral edema, glucocorticosteroid and detoxification therapy is mandatory . Vitamins E, PP-acids, C, B are also prescribed.

When pancreatitis is attached, strict bed rest and a small "hunger strike", which will last two days, will also be prescribed. At this time, the patient will receive nutrients intravenously. Then for the patient a special diet will be prescribed, which will exclude all harmful. This regime of nutrition will need to adhere to a year to exclude the risk of diabetes.

In the case of orchitis on the background of a disease such as parotitis, treatment is performed with the use of corticosteroids.

Possible complications

Most often, such a disease as parotitis, is not dangerous for human life, but there are cases when serious complications are possible. They arise with weak protective functions of the body. Almost half of all diseased boys aged 10 years are subject to complications after mumps in the form of orchitis (inflammation of the testicle). Orchitis is characterized by severe pain and redness in the scrotum, an increase in temperature. Especially dangerous is the disease for boys during puberty. If the orchitis passes into a severe form, it will cause atrophy of the testicle and provoke infertility. According to statistics, about 30% of the sick with mumps and orchitis of young men remain infertile

Paramixovirus can have a damaging effect on the pancreas, resulting in pancreatitis. Another common complication after mumps is meningitis, which, with timely treatment, has a favorable prognosis.

Rarer complications include:

1. Oophoritis (inflammation of the ovaries, observed in girls).
2. Thyroiditis (dysfunction of the thyroid gland).
3. The defeat of the auditory nerve.
4. Arthritis and polyarthritis.
5. Myocarditis.
6. Nephritis.

Very, very rarely, but still there are cases of death. He accounts for one hundred thousand, and is most often associated with the attachment of a secondary infection or with a very severe course of the disease.

Preventive measures

Parotitis is a very contagious disease, therefore, when symptoms of this ailment arise, it is urgent to isolate the patient from others. In addition, vaccination is particularly important in the issue of prevention of mumps. Unfortunately, the attitude of many mothers in our country to all kinds of vaccinations is negative. All children are vaccinated against measles, rubella, mumps, but it is not uncommon for a mother to write a refusal of vaccination. This is an unjustified risk! Of course, every child has his own reaction to the inoculation. Parotite, meanwhile, is capable of causing much greater damage to health than vaccination. It is better to immediately enter the necessary number of vaccines, than then regret that they did not. A timely vaccination (measles, mumps, rubella) by 98% will reduce the risk of infection. And this is a fairly high figure.

Under standard conditions, the inoculation (measles, mumps, rubella) is appointed one year after birth. Before this period, vaccination is not carried out, since the baby is protected by maternal antibodies. Revaccination (measles, rubella, parotitis) is carried out at 6 years. For sure, many are wondering why it is about rubella and measles ?! The mumps vaccine usually contains antibodies against these diseases. After the vaccination (rubella, measles, mumps), the reaction may be as follows: on the 5th day there is an increase in temperature and a slight increase in the salivary glands. Similar symptoms last for a couple of days, after which a person develops immunity.

Remember, if your child gets sick with such a disease as parotitis, you should not worry about the responses of others regarding vaccination or treatment, you must immediately show the child to the doctor. If untimely treatment, the disease can go into a complicated form. Do not be afraid of the body's reaction to vaccination against such diseases as measles, rubella, parotitis. Feedback, of course, can be confusing, but you are responsible for the health of your child, so you must take preventive measures.

The vaccine is only administered to absolutely healthy children who have no contraindications. The main reasons why a doctor can cancel an inoculation are:

• Colds.
• Age before 1 year.
• Hypersensitivity to vaccine components. When a child is vaccinated against such diseases as rubella, measles, mumps, the mother's testimonies about this vaccine are negative, since, perhaps, the child has a hypersensitivity to the vaccine components, and the baby is hard to tolerate the vaccination.
• Hormonal treatment.
• Malignant formations.
• Pregnancy.

It is important to know in advance everything about possible contraindications, so that the child does not have a negative reaction to the inoculation.

In order to prevent the spread of the disease, the following preventive measures should be observed:

1. The patient must necessarily be isolated from others. Usually in kindergartens the sick child is sent home, and the kindergarten is closed for quarantine for 3 weeks. If new outbreaks of infection do not occur during this period, children can safely return to the kindergarten.
2. It is necessary to disinfect all objects and toys.
3. The patient and his associates should wear medical masks.
4. The room should be regularly ventilated.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is worth noting that it is not the disease itself that is dangerous, but its possible complications and consequences. We hope you already have an idea of what parotitis is and how it manifests itself. Of course, today the mumps is not a plague, thanks to vaccination, but cases of infection often occur. To protect yourself and protect your child, vaccinations should be made almost 100% of the time. It is better to choose a combination vaccine, which includes antibodies to diseases such as measles, rubella, parotitis. Take care of yourself and your family!