For the last two months, hospitals in the city have been witnessing five to six cases of complications due to mumps – a far cry from earlier when negligible cases were reported every year. According to experts, a drop in vaccination rate due to the Covid pandemic could be a major reason for the spike. Most of the patients landing in hospitals are 6-7 years of age. A senior doctor from Lok Nayak hospital said, “Prior to the pandemic, we would hardly see any mumps cases; the whole year would pass before we could see any case. But now we are seeing cases of mumps-related complications every week.” Caused by paramyxovirus, a member of the Rubulavirus family, mumps usually affect the parotid glands, which make saliva, on each side of the face. The disease spreads through infected saliva. “The Centre provides vaccines to states only for measles and rubella and not for mumps. However, during regular immunisation drives, Delhi has been providing vaccines for mumps as well. But during the pandemic, a major part of the population was left unvaccinated leading to compromised immunity,” said a health department official. Health Secretary SB Deepak remained unavailable for comment. In a special campaign last year, held between February 6 and March 6, the Centre had instructed the states to provide measles and rubella vaccine. “However, the officials are now mulling over mumps screening and vaccination as well due to an increasing number of Parotitis – the medical term for a swollen parotid gland,” an official said. Sources at Lok Nayak hospital said the hospital has been seeing 5-6 cases of complications every week when it was zero before the pandemic. “These cases are related to stroke, paralysis, encephalitis, brain damage etc.,” said a senior doctor. “From November-December, the cases started increasing in the paediatric, ENT and regular OPD,” said a senior doctor at the hospital, adding that the number has dropped in the last one week. According to Dr Shalu Gupta, Director Professor at Community Medicine department at Lady Hardinge Medical College and Kalawati Saran Children's Hospital, “Normally, mumps is a mild, self-limiting disease that disappears in 5-6 days.” He said at Kalawati Saran hospital, while the admission rate is not very high, children between the ages of four and eight were visiting the OPD. A senior doctor at Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya confirmed that the number of cases has increased in the last two months. Dr Gupta said while there is no treatment, the care is focused on symptom relief. The disease can be prevented by the MMR vaccine. According to Dr Karunesh Kumar, Senior Consultant, Paediatric Gastroenterology, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, “During Covid, some children missed their vaccination.” He said that in many areas in the country, only Measles and Rubella vaccination was provided. “Until and unless we take steps to protect all our children, we won't be developing herd immunity,” he added. According to Indian Pediatrics, a journal writing on child health, an increasing number of mumps outbreaks has been reported from several parts of the country in the recent past. Calling it a matter of concern, the journal concluded that inclusion of mumps component in MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccine in the Universal Immunisation Programme along with strengthening of surveillance is required to tackle the situation.
