Mumps or mumps disease in children is most common. The age range is from one to fifteen years. It is extremely rare for mumps to occur in adults. Thanks to effective vaccination, cases of infection with this infectious viral disease have become quite rare. But it is still dangerous by the development of complications.
What is a pig
The occurrence of mumps causes paramyxovirus. This infectious disease (mumps) in children is acute. In babies, the temperature rises, signs of intoxication appear, and the salivary glands noticeably increase in size. If you do not provide your child with medical attention on time, the central nervous system and internal organs may be affected.
Penetrating inside, the virus infects the mucous membrane of the mouth, nose and nasopharynx. The incubation period can last from two to twelve days from the time of infection.
How does infection happen?
We figured out what a pig is. In children, the disease can develop after contact with a sick child. Moreover, the source of infection is not only children with pronounced signs of mumps, but also with erased symptoms. The virus transmitted by airborne droplets is stable in the environment, but quickly dies from low temperatures.
In addition to saliva, the virus is excreted in the urine. This begins two to three days before the onset of the initial symptoms of the disease. Mumps in children (you can see the photo of the first signs of the disease in the article) is very bright. People who have not previously experienced this disease are at risk, especially for children. Boys with mumps are sick more often than girls. The disease manifests itself on the basis of the season: in the fall, it is almost impossible to become infected with mumps, and in the spring the virus activates.
The disease begins with inflammation of the upper respiratory tract and tonsils, and later the virus encompasses the salivary glands.
Diagnostics
There are two forms of mumps:
- Simple - the infection affects only the salivary glands.
- Complicated - inflammation captures other organs.
Based on visible symptoms, a simple form of mumps disease is diagnosed. The necessary tests are taken in children, an anamnesis is being studied. Additional studies are being conducted to identify possible complications. We study not only general blood and urine tests, but also saliva, as well as secretory secretions. A sample of material is taken from the pharynx.
In recent years, new methods for diagnosing this disease in children have been added. Mumps detected by immunofluorescence studies. Which make it possible to see the mumps virus in the tissues of the nasopharynx. This technique is the fastest, but the most informative.
Symptomatology
How are the symptoms of the disease manifested in children? Mumps can immediately be identified by severe swelling and the inflammatory process of the salivary glands, which are located near the ears. Edema spreads to areas in front of the ears, cheeks, and the face enlarges. After infection in the first two days, the following symptoms appear:
- headache;
- chills;
- dry mouth
- joint and muscle pains.
I must say that in rare cases of infection, adult patients are much more difficult to tolerate the symptoms of mumps:
- in a short period of time, the temperature rises to 40 degrees and above and practically does not decrease during the week;
- headaches seem unbearable;
- weakness is felt throughout the body.
Symptoms of mumps disease in children and adults are expressed not only by swelling of the submandibular and sublingual glands. Even with a slight pressure on the inflamed area, the patient experiences acute pain. It intensifies with meals and with the onset of the evening.
Possible consequences
Complications of the disease are characterized by damage to various internal organs. These include: aspermia (lack of sperm), diabetes mellitus and others. Parents should immediately seek medical help if they discover the first symptoms of the disease in children. Mumps (you can see the photo in this material) is an insidious disease, its consequences can be fatal for the child and therapy should be aimed at their prevention and surgical treatment.
Mumps can cause serious complications:
- pancreas inflammation;
- disorders in the central nervous system;
- pancreatitis
- serous meningitis;
- meningoencephalitis;
- lesions of the middle ear.
Boys disease
At a particular risk are boys who become ill with mumps. The older the child, the greater the likelihood of pathologies and complications, including infertility. In 20% of cases after damage to the salivary glands, as well as the nervous system, the infection passes to the genitals, affecting and destroying the spermatogenic epithelium of the testicles. They are very inflamed, the boy experiences unbearable pain in the groin and gonads. Significant redness, swelling, an increase in the size of one testicle soon passes to the second, which leads to dysfunction, atrophy and, as a result, to infertility, which can not be treated.
For a boy who suffers from mumps, not accompanied by orchitis, infertility will not come and will not be a sentence. That is why it is so important to identify signs of mumps in children as early as possible. Photos of symptoms are often published not only by special reference books for physicians, but also by popular publications. They need to know the parents of the boys.
The disease is especially dangerous during puberty. In the first year of life when breastfeeding, infection does not occur due to antibodies contained in breast milk, and the "artificial" for prevention, carry out vaccination, which is repeated at the age of 6-7 years.
How to treat mumps at home?
If a simple form is diagnosed, treatment of the disease in children is allowed at home. A mumps in a complicated form is treated in a hospital in the infectious ward.
Dry heat should be placed on the area of the parotid glands - for example, a woolen scarf for dressing. Perhaps the use of oil compresses. To do this, you need to heat two tablespoons of vegetable oil, moisten a gauze napkin and apply to the affected area. Cover with plastic wrap and wrap with a scarf. It is important that the oil is not too hot so that there is no burn.
Gargle with water and baking soda. The solution is prepared in the ratio: a teaspoon of soda is diluted in a glass of warm water and mixed thoroughly so that no crystals remain. If the child still does not know how to gargle, with this solution you can irrigate his tonsils.
To lower the temperature, antipyretic drugs are used (Ibuprofen, Paracetamol). At a very high temperature (above 39 ° C), the child is given intramuscular injections of analgin and papaverine at a rate of 0.1 ml for each year of life. A child's team can attend a child two weeks after the onset of the disease.
Prerequisites for a sick child
At home, it is necessary to create conditions conducive to alleviating the condition of the child. They are recommended strict bed rest for the entire period of temperature rise. If possible, it is necessary to immediately isolate patients after identifying the first signs of the disease in children.
Mumps is an infectious disease, and therefore, in the room where the child is located, it is necessary to conduct treatment with a quartz lamp several times a day, airing, wet cleaning with the use of disinfectant compounds to prevent infection of other family members. In addition to a separate room, the sick baby should have separate dishes, bedding, a towel, which often needs to be washed separately from things of healthy family members.
During treatment, the baby should have toys that can easily be processed with special tools and disinfected. Another important point in children with mumps is a diet. As a rule, it is painful and difficult for the baby to chew, so it should be transferred to boiled mashed vegetables, mashed soups, cereals, and meat consumption should be excluded. It is better to replace it with boiled chicken, which is crushed in a blender.
Food should be as light as possible and not require prolonged mechanical processing in the mouth (soups, cereals, broths). Fatty, fried foods, sour fruits should be excluded from the menu. When preparing food for a sick child, spices and all kinds of spices should not be added to it. It is necessary that the baby during treatment drank as much warm liquid as possible. It can be stewed fruit, vitamin fruit drinks, vegetable and fruit juices. Walking on the street the baby will be allowed only two weeks after the doctor confirms a complete recovery.
Mumps treatment in a hospital
Only in a hospital is treatment of complicated mumps disease in children carried out (photo you can see below). If you experience any complications, you must urgently consult a doctor who hospitalizes the patient. Pig disease can be aggravated by damage to the pancreas.
In this case, a strict diet is prescribed, which excludes fried, smoked food. It is important to adhere to such a diet for a year after the child's recovery, in order to prevent the development of diabetes in the future. Cold is applied to the pancreas. With severe pain, antispasmodics are prescribed (Drotaverin, No-shpa). Intravenous detoxification therapy with saline solutions is carried out.
To reduce the load on the pancreas and prevent the development of dyspeptic disorders, enzyme preparations are used (Mezim, Creon). When orchitis is prescribed intramuscularly, "Prednisolone" at a dosage of 1.5 mg / kg / day for ten days. This is necessary to prevent testicular atrophy.
If meningitis has become a complication of mumps disease in children, round-the-clock medical supervision and strict bed rest are necessary. To remove cerebral edema, a lumbar puncture is performed, diuretics are used (Furosemide, Lasix). The complex therapy includes medications that stimulate brain activity - Nootropil, Piracetam, Phenibut, Phezam, which prevent long-term consequences. With meningitis, children are discharged from the hospital only after normalization of the cerebrospinal fluid.
Factors affecting the spread of the disease and its prevention
Preventive measures largely depend on the cause of the disease:
- Weakened immunity. As we have already said, babies are extremely rarely affected by mumps because they receive strong but temporary protection with breast milk. In order to prevent the disease, it is necessary to constantly strengthen the child’s immunity, not only maintaining the balance of trace elements and vitamins in his body, but also hardening the baby.
- Refusal of preventive vaccinations. Unfortunately, many parents are sure (although it is not clear what such confidence is based on) that such a disaster will bypass their child, and therefore do not receive routine vaccinations. However, timely vaccinations can significantly reduce the risk of mumps and serious complications of the disease. In addition to specific prophylaxis (vaccination), it is necessary to carry out non-specific prophylaxis of mumps among contact children. For this, antiviral drugs are used: Viferon, Interferon, Groprinosin. Children who fall ill with mumps cannot attend childcare facilities for two weeks. Contact children are quarantined at 21 days. If new cases of the disease are detected during this period, quarantine is extended.
- Violation of sanitary standards in child care facilities. This factor, alas, is quite common. According to the prescription, if mumps are detected in a child attending school (kindergarten, sports section), the institution must be closed for quarantine, during which the premises must be disinfected. But sometimes these requirements are not respected. And this contributes to the spread of infection.
- Negligent attitude towards other people's children. It happens that a child who already has signs of malaise is sent to school (kindergarten), without thinking about the fact that he is becoming a source of the spread of the virus. There is another side to this problem. Not every parent notifies a child care institution that his child has been diagnosed with mumps, thereby depriving them of the opportunity to protect other children from the disease.
To summarize
From the foregoing, we can distinguish several criteria for the prevention of not only infection, but also the spread of the virus in the event of an outbreak. This should be not only an active lifestyle, hardening and the use of various techniques to strengthen the child's immunity, but also timely vaccination. Mumps is dangerous complications and parents should do everything in their power to prevent this.