Preventing mumps
MMR Vaccine
The best way to prevent catching mumps is to be immunised with the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
Advice for children
The MMR vaccine is part of the routine childhood immunisation programme. One dose is given to a child at around the age of 13 months. A second booster dose is given before they start school, usually between the ages of three to five years old.
Contact your GP if you are uncertain about whether your child s vaccinations are up-to-date.
Advice for adults
The MMR vaccine can be given at any age, so there may be circumstances where you are advised to have it.
For example, if you were born between 1980-1990, you may not be protected against mumps. It is unlikely that you will have been previously exposed to a mumps infection, so vaccination may be recommended.
If you were born before 1979, it is unlikely that you have been vaccinated against mumps, although you may have been previously exposed to mumps. Vaccination may be recommended if you have a high risk of exposure to mumps.
You may be more at risk of exposure to mumps if you:
- live or work in an environment that contains a high number of young people living in close contact, such as a college, university or army base
- are a healthcare worker
You also have a higher risk of exposure if you are travelling to a part of the world that does not offer routine vaccination against mumps, such as:
- most of Africa, except Egypt
- Pakistan
- India
- Japan
- southeast Asia
Vaccination is also recommended if you are a migrant from a part of a world that does not offer routine vaccination.
MMR and autism
There has been some controversy about the MMR vaccine and autism following a study published in 1998 by Dr Andrew Wakefield. He claimed that his initial findings appeared to show a link between the MMR vaccine and autism and bowel disease.
However, Andrew Wakefield s work has since been discredited.
Subsequent studies during the last eight years have found no link between the MMR vaccine and autism or bowel disease.
- Contagious
- Contagious is when a disease or infection can be easily passed from one person to another through infection.
- Dose
- Dose is a measured quantity of a medicine to be taken at any one time, such as a specified amount of medication.
- Immunisation
- Vaccination or immunisation is usually given by an injection that makes the body's immune system produce antibodies that will fight off a virus.
- MMR
- MMR stands for measles, mumps and rubella. It is a vaccine that prevents measles, mumps and rubella by making the body produce antibodies that will fight off the viruses.
- Sneezes
- Sneezing is an involuntary expulsion of air and bacteria from the nose and mouth.
