Once you have had the disease, you usually are permanently immune. However, if a woman is pregnant when she contracts rubella, the consequences for her unborn child may be severe. The child may have any one of various problems including growth retardation, cataracts, rashes, deafness, congenital heart defects, and organ defects. Mumps is a childhood disease, but it can occur in adults. Its clinical name is epidemic parotitis.
Mumps is caused by a virus and is spread by inhalation of infected droplets.
The affected person becomes contagious 1 day before the symptoms appear, is most contagious for another 3 days, and then becomes less contagious as the swelling goes down. The symptoms of mumps usually appear 2 to 3 weeks after the virus infection begins. The primary, and best known, symptom is swollen, painful salivary glands, causing the cheeks to puff out. In small children, fever is usually slight. If the affected person experiences headaches and becomes lethargic, inflammation of the brain and its lining may be present.