Why does mumps easily cause infertility?

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted by Doctor Nguyen Hung Tien - Department of Pediatrics - Neonatology, Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital.
Mumps can cause many dangerous complications, including infertility. The disease can occur at any age and especially in children. So why is mumps so easy to cause infertility? Please refer to the article below to understand the risk of the disease and take preventive measures.

1. Symptoms of mumps

Mumps is an acute infectious disease and is caused by the Paramyxovirus virus. The disease can be transmitted directly from person to person through respiratory droplets and contact between healthy people and sick people.
Mumps can begin with symptoms such as low-grade fever, picky appetite, body aches. These non-specific symptoms can make us subjective and mistaken for common colds and illnesses. Therefore, the isolation of sick people is not noticed and there is a risk of rapid spread.
After about 2 days with the above symptoms, the patient's body begins to suffer other symptoms such as swelling, pain in the parotid area, pain on both sides or 1 in 2, these symptoms are often separated. some days. This is also the most characteristic sign of mumps.
In addition, the patient may also have a sore throat, pain in the corner of the jaw, accompanied by symptoms of headache, fever, nausea and body fatigue.

2. Why does mumps easily cause infertility?

Mumps has many other complications that can be dangerous to the body such as infertility, pulmonary infarction, encephalitis and meningitis, ... So why is mumps easy to cause infertility?

Complications of mumps can cause infertility, such as orchitis, inflammation of the ovaries. Mumps causes inflammation of the testicles and epididymis, which can directly affect a person's fertility later in life. When mumps orchitis is a complication of mumps, the testicles will become enlarged, painful, and inflamed, leading to a prolonged fever.
Severe cases can lead to testicular atrophy and significantly reduce sperm count causing infertility. In women, mumps can cause inflammation of the ovaries. Common symptoms are lower abdominal pain, menorrhagia. For pregnant women who contract mumps, they are at high risk of miscarriage, premature birth or stillbirth in the first three months of pregnancy.
Complications of orchitis occurring after puberty have an occurrence rate of 20-35% in people with mumps. Symptoms of orchitis, epididymitis will occur after about 7-10 days from the time of parotid gland inflammation.
Currently, the dangerous complications of mumps are not only orchitis, ovarian inflammation but also very dangerous meningitis. These complications cause confusion for patients as well as the community. Those who have had orchitis or mumps are likely to have reproductive health effects, but to confirm that depends on many factors and needs to be tested to be able to do this. concluded.
Complications such as orchitis, epididymitis or ovarian inflammation all have an impact on fertility. However, not every mumps infection will lead to infertility, depending on the case with complications or not.
Moreover, only when both testicles or ovaries are inflamed, the risk of infertility is high. Therefore, patients should not be too worried, but should follow the principles of mumps prevention as well as focus on treatment and isolation if they are unfortunately infected.

3. How to prevent and treat mumps

When you have mumps, the first thing you need to do is isolate the sick person and immediately take them to medical facilities for examination. In addition, to prevent the disease completely, you need to limit contact with the sick person and do not eat or drink or share personal items with the sick person.
When there is someone next to you who suspects mumps, the sick person needs to quickly isolate and rest at home. Then, quickly bring the patient to the hospital for examination. The patient should be given plenty of water to drink. When eating and drinking, you should choose foods that are liquid, soft and easy to swallow. The patient should also limit chewing while sick.
When you have mumps, it is necessary to isolate the sick person from wind and cold water. This is to avoid the risk of the patient having a bigger and heavier jaw. In addition, it is also important to keep your teeth clean.
Vaccination is a safe way to prevent mumps from spreading. In particular, women should be vaccinated against mumps before becoming pregnant to avoid the risk of mother-to-child transmission of the disease. Currently, at Vinmec, we always provide vaccines against mumps as well as infectious diseases such as measles, ensuring the health of patients before and after vaccination.

Vinmec International General Hospital has been implementing the American MMR II vaccine room service of the company Merck Sharp and Dohme manufactured in the US. The advantages of vaccination at Vinmec include:
100% of vaccinated children are monitored 30 minutes after vaccination and reassessed before leaving. Children will be examined and screened for all health and physical problems, advised on preventive vaccines and injection regimens, and how to monitor and care for children after vaccination before giving an appointment to vaccinate. - Please follow the latest recommendations of the Ministry of Health & World Health Organization to ensure the best effectiveness and safety. A team of professional, experienced pediatric doctors and nurses, understand children's psychology and apply effective pain relief methods for children during vaccination. Monitored before, during and after vaccination. Vinmec health system and always have an emergency team ready to coordinate with the vaccination department to handle cases of anaphylaxis, respiratory failure - circulatory arrest, ensuring timely and correct treatment when there is an incident. happen. The vaccination room is airy, with a play area, helping children feel comfortable as if they are walking and have a good mentality before and after vaccination. Vaccines are imported and stored in a modern cold storage system, with a cold chain that meets GSP standards, keeping vaccines in the best conditions to ensure quality. Customers will receive a reminder message before the injection date and the vaccination information is synchronized with the national vaccination information system.

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