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Mumps is an illness that causes severe swelling of the salivary glands, and in some cases the
testicles. The disease has been a nuisance since ancient times, and grew to epidemic
proportions in the 18th and 19th centuries. Vaccines are available to treat the disease, but many
physicians have cast doubt as to their efficacy.
Ancient References
Mumps is first described in the writings of the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, who
wrote during the 5th century B.C. He described the symptoms of the disease, namely the
swelling of the face and the throat, as well as the swelling of the testicles that affects some men
who develop the illness.
18th to 20th Century
Epidemics of the mumps occurred during the 18th and 19th centuries. The outbreaks
occurred worldwide, often in close quarters, such as military barracks, boarding schools, ships at
sea and prisons. In World War I, mumps was the leading cause of French troops missing active
duty. It wasn't until 1934 when Drs. Johnson and Goodpasture proved that the mumps was
caused by a virus, which the doctors isolated from saliva samples.
Mumps Vaccine
There are three major mumps vaccines that were developed in the 20th century: Rubini,
Jeryl-Lynn and Urabe. Of these, only the Jeryl Lynn is in use in the United States today. The Jeryl
Lynn vaccine was developed in the 1960's and licensed in 1967.
Combination Vaccine
Many concerns have been raised about the effectiveness of the mumps/MMR vaccine in
recent years. During a 2006 outbreak of the disease in California, many who had been
vaccinated still became ill. It was the worst outbreak in the United States in two decades. Across
the pond, British physicians also agree that the vaccine may not be the most effective. Outbreaks
of the disease have occurred with some regularity since the late 1990s in communities in
Northern Ireland and the northern parts of England.
History of Measles
Throughout the history of measles, the disease was an expected life event. References to
measles can be found as far back as the 7th century A.D. The history of measles changed
dramatically when the vaccine became available and the number of measles cases dropped by
99 percent.
References to measles can be found as far back as the 7th century A.D. In fact, measles was
described by Rhazes (Persian philosopher and physician) in the 10th century A.D. as "more
dreaded thansmallpox." But all that changed in 1963, when the measles vaccine was first
licensed in the United States.
During this period, 123 people died from measles-related illnesses, and almost half were under
five years old. Ninety percent of those who lost their lives had not been vaccinated. There were
64 deaths reported in 1990; this was the largest number that had been seen in almost 20 years.
Samuel Johnson suggested that the disease was "no very great danger," thus a
"chicken" version of the pox;
the specks that appear looked as though the skin was pecked by chickens;
the disease was named after chick peas, from a supposed similarity in size of the
seed to the lesions;
the term reflects a corruption of the Old English word giccin, which meant "itching."
As "pox" also means curse, in medieval times some believed it was a plague brought on to curse
children by the use of black magic.
From ancient times, neem has been used by people in India to alleviate the external symptoms
of itching and to minimize scarring. Neem baths (neem leaves and a dash of turmeric powder in
water) are commonly given for the duration.
During the medieval era, oatmeal was discovered to soothe the sores, and oatmeal baths are
today still commonly given to relieve itching.