Mumps is characterized by the painful inflammation of the salivary glands, particularly the parotid glands. In some cases, though, gland swelling does not take place but the infected person will most likely suffer from URI or upper respiratory tract infection.

Once a person suffers from mumps, the initial symptoms will appear after about two weeks. By then, the person will experience headaches and stiffness of the neck, with the parotid glands manifesting tenderness and inflammation. Additionally, if the person happens to be a man, he will eventually feel pain around the groin area, particularly with his testicles.

Fortunately, mumps is one viral disease that can be easily prevented these days because there are now several available vaccines that have been specifically developed to handle mumps. These vaccines, commonly known as MMR vaccines, are actually a combination of shots meant to provide life-long immunity to several common childhood diseases, including mumps and measles.

The shots are given on two separate occasions, the first during the first 12 months of life, and the other when the child is between four to six years old. Alternatively, there is now a vaccine called ProQuad that effectively prevents mumps, varicella, rubella, measles, and chickenpox and which can be used as a substitute to the MMR vaccine.

Prior to the development of these vaccines, mumps was one disease quite common among children living in the US. Nevertheless, children then could not possibly get the virus that causes the disease during the initial 12 months of their lives owing to the immunity that their mothers provided them while they were still inside the womb.