Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Jun 18;36(26):3721-3726.
doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.05.067. Epub 2018 May 18.

Knowledge gaps persist and hinder progress in eliminating mumps

R Ramanathan  1 , E A Voigt  1 , R B Kennedy  1 , G A Poland  2
Affiliations
Review

Knowledge gaps persist and hinder progress in eliminating mumps

R Ramanathan et al. Vaccine. .

Abstract

Mumps, a common childhood disease in the pre-vaccine era that causes swelling of the parotid salivary glands, can lead to orchitis, viral meningitis, and sensorineural deafness. While the incidence of disease decreased dramatically after the vaccine was added to standard vaccination schedules, the disease has made a substantial resurgence in recent years. As a result, it becomes critical to examine the factors involved in recurring outbreaks. Although low and incomplete vaccination coverage may be a key reason, it does not fully explain the issue due to the high rate of occurrence in populations with high vaccination coverage rates. Multiple studies suggest that waning immunity and secondary vaccine failure play a large role, the effects of which were previously masked by subclinical boosting. Significant knowledge gaps persist around the exact role and mechanism of waning immunity and demonstrate the need for more research in this area, as well as a reevaluation of mumps vaccine policy.

Keywords: Antibodies; Cytokines; Immunity, humoral; Measles-mumps-rubella vaccine; Mumps; Mumps vaccine; Mumps virus; Polymorphism, genetic; Receptors, cytokine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Reported Cases of Mumps in the United States by Year
This figure, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, outlines the number of mumps cases by year. *Case count is preliminary. **Cases as of January 27, 2018.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Masarani M, Wazait H, Dinneen M. Mumps orchitis. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 2006 Nov;99(11):573–5. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Drexler JF, Corman VM, Muller MA, Maganga GD, Vallo P, Binger T, et al. Bats host major mammalian paramyxoviruses. Nat Commun. 2012 Apr 24;3:796. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hilleman MR. Past, present, and future of measles, mumps, and rubella virus vaccines. Pediatrics. 1992;90(1 Pt 2):149–53. - PubMed
    1. Mumps--United States, 1985–1986. MMWR Morbidity and mortality weekly report. 1987 Mar 20;36(10):151–5. - PubMed
    1. Rubin S. Mumps Vaccines. In: Plotkin S, Orenstein W, Offit P, Edwards KM, editors. Plotkin’s VACCINES. 7. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2017. pp. 663–87.

Publication types

MeSH terms