SWELLING of the parotid salivary glands gives this disease its trademark look.

Chipmunk cheeks are very cute on chipmunks, but on a human they may indicate a case of mumps. Mumps is a viral illness that typically results in swelling of the parotid salivary glands, which are situated near the back part of your cheeks, just in front of and slightly below your ears.

In addition to looking as if you have a handful of nuts packed into each cheek, as a mumps sufferer you may experience fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness and poor appetite.

These days of course, immunisation against mumps is part of the routine vaccination schedule for children, however outbreaks do still occasionally occur since there are a fair few people in their 20s to 40s who missed out on vaccination and didn’t get mumps through natural exposure.

How is mumps spread?

Mumps is caught by inhalation of droplets from coughing or sneezing or contact with saliva from an infectious person. Someone with mumps is infectious from around seven days before to nine days after the onset of salivary gland swelling.

Sometimes a person infected with mumps may have few or possibly even no symptoms, but they are still infectious.

Are there any complications?

While around one third of people infected with mumps may suffer few symptoms or none at all, others, particularly those infected after puberty, may suffer more severe symptoms and possibly even complications such as encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord), orchitis (inflammation of the testes), oophoritis (inflammation of the ovaries) and even mastitis (breast inflammation).

Rarely, hearing loss may occur and, in cases where a woman is infected during pregnancy, the risk of spontaneous miscarriage increases. While it seldom actually occurs, it is possible for orchitis affecting both testes to result in infertility.

What should be done?

See your doctor, who can confirm the diagnosis and advise you accordingly. You need to stay home for nine days following the onset of salivary gland swelling to avoid spreading the infection, but other than that there is no specific treatment apart from simple analgesics to relieve discomfort.

Stay away from anyone who is not immune (ie. anyone who has not either received two doses of the vaccine or actually had a case of the mumps in the past), especially non-immune pregnant women.

If you are not certain whether you have had mumps or whether you have been vaccinated, talk to your doctor. Many people born before the vaccine was introduced in 1967 may have had natural exposure and therefore may be immune already.

Those born after 1967 may or may not have received two doses of the vaccine. However, if you’re in doubt, it is better to err on the side of caution, since if you have already had the illness or the vaccine previously then an extra dose will do no harm.

Children

Ensure your kids are up to date with their vaccines. Normally kids will receive a dose of MMR which protects against measles, mumps and rubella at 12 months of age and then again at four years, before starting school.

Q How common is egg allergy and is it the egg white or the yolk that is the problem? Do you need to avoid chicken too?

A Egg allergy affects around one to two per cent of preschool children, making it one of the most common food allergies. Most infants eventually outgrow their egg allergy, with two out of three having grown out of it by age five.

Those with milder forms of egg allergy (skin reactions rather than wheezing or anaphylaxis) are more likely to grow out of it. Allergy against egg white is more common than allergy to yolk, but both can occur. As for chicken allergy, this is very rare and is unrelated to egg allergy.

Q What exactly is hypospadias and how common is it?

A Hypospadias is a condition affecting around one in every 300 boys where the urethral opening (where the urine comes out) is not in the correct place on the penis.

In addition to the urethral opening being further back from the tip of the penis than normal, there may also be curvature of the penis as well as abnormalities of the foreskin.

Fortunately the condition is usually identified soon after birth and can be repaired surgically.

Q What happens after a tonsillectomy? How long is the recovery?

AThe patient can usually go home within 24 hours of the operation provided that there are no immediate complications. Keep up regular pain relief with paracetamol for the first few days.

Use paracetamol rather than ibuprofen or aspirin-based pain killers, which can increase the risk of bleeding. If the patient is a child, don’t wait until he or she complains of pain as otherwise it may be too painful for him or her to swallow the medicine. If the patient is unable to swallow food, drink or medication, seek medical advice without delay.

Avoid vigorous movement in the initial period and keep the patient as quiet as possible for the first two weeks. Avoid crowded, enclosed places to reduce the risk of infection. If there is any bleeding, seek medical attention immediately.