Kerala is currently experiencing an outbreak of mumps, with the state reporting 190 cases in a single day on March 10 (Sunday). This month alone, there have been 2,505 cases of the viral infection, and a total of 11,467 cases have been reported in a little over two months this year, as per data from the Kerala health department.
Officials from the Union Health Ministry have confirmed the outbreak and have alerted the National Centre for Disease Control in the state, according to media reports.
Mumps is caused by the paramyxovirus and spreads through direct contact or airborne droplets from the upper respiratory tract of an infected person. Symptoms typically appear two to four weeks after exposure, starting with low-grade fever, headache, body aches and malaise. Swelling of the salivary glands is the most distinctive symptom. Although it primarily affects young children, adolescents and adults can also be infected.
Most cases are concentrated in Malappuram district and other parts of northern Kerala. While a vaccine for mumps, measles, and rubella exists, it is not included in the government’s universal immunisation programme.
According to public health experts, children can receive the mumps-measles-rubella (MMR) vaccine at private centres, even if they have already received the measles-rubella (MR) vaccine as part of the government’s immunisation programme.
An immunisation expert, speaking anonymously, explained that including an MMR vaccine in the government’s program isn’t practical because it doesn’t offer as much protection against mumps as it does against measles and rubella. Additionally, Malappuram has historically exhibited high levels of vaccine hesitancy in Kerala.
While mumps is usually a self-limiting disease, it can lead to complications such as brain swelling, hearing loss, and painful inflammation of the testicles in adult males in rare cases.