Myth attached to mumps can cause deafness, meningitis, infertility

Some beliefs, traditions and myths are creating impact on the nation’s health care delivery system. A good example is the belief that childhood infections like mumps do not require prompt medical attention. Seye Adeniyi writes to correct such a wrong notion, that improperly treated mumps can wreak havoc later in life.

A sales girl once asked a nursing mother what could be responsible for the unusual swelling on her baby’s cheek after she noticed that the right cheek of the woman’s baby was swollen.

The nursing mother had gone to the medicine store to buy an analgesic. She asked why the woman failed to apply medication.

The nursing mother answered, saying that what the sales girl observed on her baby’s cheek was called mumps (Segede in Yoruba) and such a childhood infection did not require any medical treatment.

“What we used to treat mumps in those days, as we were taught by our grand parents, was traditional therapy. What needed to be done to get rid of mumps is to look for dragon fly mould or termites hill, which is usually made of clay, grind it, mix with warm water and apply on the affected area.

I can tell you that in less than three days, the swelling will disappear”, the woman replied confidently. But, can clay soil, termite’s hill or dragon fly mould be used to treat mumps? If yes, what is in the soil that tackles mumps? Also, why do many believe that mumps does not need urgent medical attention and why is it that some parents often neglect it, believing that it will naturally disappear by itself even without a single dose of antibiotics?

Going by Dr. Olubukunola Jemihusi, an Ogun State-based medical practitioner, parents, especially nursing mothers, should not see mumps as a mild infection that should be left unattended to. According to him, such a wrong belief can jeopardise the health of such a child if not immediately attended to, in future.

Mumps, according to the community health physician, usually affects children and is not common in adults. The affected child will experience pains, inflammation of the cheek and the disease is often caused by a virus known as the mump virus. It is also a common childhood disease, which does not often arrest the attention of parents due to the traditional belief and myths attached to this childhood viral infection.

According to Dr. Adebowale Ademola, a consultant paediatrician at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, mumps, a disease caused by a virus, could occur many times. Although, some children can get over it naturally, that does not give any parent the licence to overlook it or pay less attention to this infection because there could be complicated mumps at times.

Also, the doctor warned that mump could be contagious and so, can spread from one child to another, especially in a crowded environment like nursery schools, children care centres and primary schools.

In his own submission, Professor Isaac Adewole explained that mumps which is also known as parotitis, is a viral infection that typically affects the salivary glands, although it may also affect other organs of the body.

The obstetrician and gynaecologist added that mumps is not a childhood infection that should ever be overlooked by any mother, if the child is not expected to experience fertility problem in the later years of life.

But how can mumps turn out to be a dangerous disease that may affect the health of an individual in later years of life? Being a viral infection, mumps, itself is usually mild, frequently with no visible symptoms, although, swallowing food or drink that stimulates the secretion of saliva can be very painful. The virus responsible for mumps spreads through droplets produced during coughing and sneezing and the incubation period is between two to three weeks before the first symptoms will eventually mainfest.

Swelling, resulting from mumps, can be on one side of the chin or on both sides of the face and may last for three to seven days. Any child who develops mumps is infectious to other people for a few days before the jaw swells, until several days after which the swelling will appear.

Severe forms of the illness are more common in adolescents and can lead to complications, including meningitis, encephalitis and permanent deafness in one ear.

If not treated on time with appropriate medications, mumps can lead to serious problems, resulting in inflammation and the organ called the pancreas can also become inflamed. Adolescent boys may develop inflammation of the testes, while older girls and women may also develop inflamed ovaries.

Commenting on the relationship between untreated mumps and infertility, Professor Adewole said that the female ovaries might be affected, while it could affect the testes of a male child. In future, it can also cause secondary infertility in both sexes.

Dr. Ademola also butressed Professor Adewole’s assertion, that mumps can indeed, cause infertility if not properly treated. “Mump orchitis can happen and this is when it affects the testes. It could also cause encephalitis and ultimately affect the brain. The glands under the chin may also become enlarged, swollen and this may result in a slight fever.

“Orchitis, which is a painful condition, can also cause sterility in later years of life. A far more serious complications may also occur when the mump virus attacks the brain and the nervous system, causing meningoencephalitis,” he further warned.

Consequently, what should parents look out for in a child with mumps? These include headaches, reluctance to eat, swallow or even talk, dryness of the mouth, swelling at the angle of the jaw. If it attacks only one side of the mouth, the other side of the mouth may frequently swell even as the other side goes down.

Furthermore, the severe pains attached to mumps is as a result of swelling of the salivary glands which causes pain on swallowing and result in a dry mouth. The sub-maxillary gland beneath the chin may also be affected. But to minimise the pain which is felt in swallowing, parents are advised to avoid giving the affected child fruit juices, which will stimulate the salivary glands to produce saliva.