Current Status of Mumps Virus Infection: Epidemiology, Pathogenesis, and Vaccine

Abstract

Mumps is an important childhood infectious disease caused by mumps virus (MuV). We reviewed the epidemiology, pathogenesis, and vaccine development of mumps. Previous studies were identified using the key words “mumps” and “epidemiology”, “pathogenesis” or “vaccine” in MEDLINE, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. We excluded the articles that were not published in the English language, manuscripts without abstracts, and opinion articles from the review. The number of cases caused by MuV decreased steeply after the introduction of the mumps vaccine worldwide. In recent years, a global resurgence of mumps cases in developed countries and cases of aseptic meningitis caused by some mumps vaccine strains have renewed the importance of MuV infection worldwide. The performance of mumps vaccination has become an important issue for controlling mumps infections. Vaccine development and routine vaccination are still effective measures to globally reduce the incidence of mumps infections. During outbreaks, a third of MMR vaccine is recommended for groups of persons determined by public authorities.

Mumps Outbreaks in Vaccinated Populations—Is It Time to Re-assess the Clinical Efficacy of Vaccines?

“…Several reviews, both observational and systematic have demonstrated the clinical benefit of a mumps vaccine ( 107 , 108 ), the pathogenesis and genomic diversity of the MuV ( 10 , 107 , 108 ) and the epidemiology surrounding the outbreak ( 1 , 10 , 82 ). It is not clear why these mumps outbreaks occur, although it has been alluded to be due to a number of interrelated factors, such as sub-optimal vaccine uptake ( 1 , 109 , 110 ), primary or secondary vaccine failure or failure of the mumps vaccine to protect individuals from infection (vaccine efficacy) ( 107 ) ( Figure 1 ).…”

Implementation of the preventive vacc ination program against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) on the example of a selected clinic in the city of Krakow

“…The style of communication also has a significant impact on parents' perception of vaccinations [2]. It seems, therefore, that it is necessary to conduct longterm educational activities about vaccinations in order to increase the number of vaccinated children and thus obtain the aforementioned herd immunity.…”

“…Children are the most prone to contract these three different viruses. The long-term complications vary from mild to dangerous or even death [1][2][3]. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that 82,596 people suffered from measles in the European region in 2018 and 72 died [1].…”

“…The anti-vaccination movements have a significant impact on social perception of vaccines and might be responsible for influencing parents' decision about vaccinations [2].…”

“…Due to the article written by A. Wakefield in 1998, the MMR vaccine was associated with a higher occurrence of inflammatory bowel disease and autism. Although Wakefield's paper has been discredited by a great deal of scientific evidence, parents' concerns about the MMR vaccine are still ongoing [1,2,7]. Other potential causes of negative attitudes towards vaccination leading to rejection of them include low health literacy, limited trust in the health system, and belief in the Big Pharma conspiracy theory [8].…”