It's time for a mumps outbreak! Here is a basic primer on the very basic basics. How do you get mumps? Respiratory secretions, that guy sitting next to you on the airplane with the huge parotid gland and just sneeze in your eye. Not good. Incubation period How long does this need to cook before mumps is ready for full star spangled disease manifestation? Somewhere between 2-3 weeks. Presentation The classic presentation is a swollen parotid gland. Usually it’s both, but in a quarter of patients, it’s unilateral parotitis, which can make things tricky when you’re wondering if this patient has acute bacterial parotitis, or mumps. The other salivary glands can swell as well, but much less commonly than the parotid. All this salivary swelling business may be preceded by a few days of viral syndrome fever , headache, body aches, feeling crappy. Patients feel bad for a few days, the parotids swell, stay swollen for anywhere from 2 to 10 days. There may, however, be no parotid swelli
