It is official – South Africa has an outbreak of mumps, which is an acute viral infection

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in a statement this morning said that since February, it had received numerous queries about possible clusters or outbreaks of mumps in different provinces.

“To confirm the existence of an outbreak of mumps, national public sector laboratory test data for mumps PCR [polymerase chain reaction positives] and IgM [immunoglobulin G] positives over the period 2013 to current was requested from the NICD surveillance data warehouse and analysed as an ad hoc surveillance activity.”

Outbreak confirmation

Data states that between week one of 2013 (ending 05/01/2013) to week 12 of 2023 (ending 31/03/2023), 1 322 mumps IgM positives and 30 mumps PCR positives (of which 11 or 37% were recorded in 2023) were identified from 20 813 combined tests.

“Annual percent-positivity for mumps IgM tests by age category shows marked increases in percent-positivity in the one–four years category (84% in 2023) and the five–nine years category (83% in 2023), followed by the 30–34 year category (67%) and 10–14 year category (54%).

“More recent data presented as an epidemic curve shows unexpected, steady increases in IgM test positives from week six of 2023, with KZN, Mpumalanga and Gauteng accounting for the majority. The unexpected, sudden increase in mumps IgM and PCR test positives, in the absence of other data, constitutes an outbreak,” the statement reads.

The NICD said that ‘mumps reporting has been inconsistent, and there are limited reports on mumps epidemiology in South Africa’.

Symptoms

According to the NICD, a headache, malaise, loss of appetite and fever are initial symptoms of mumps.

According to information on the NICD website, this is followed by an earache and characteristic pain and swelling of the parotid gland, which can occur within a day of the initial symptoms. The affected gland will continue to swell over the next two to three days and is usually accompanied by severe pain.

Prevention

The national public health institute says because the measles, mumps and rubella [MMR] vaccine as an intervention ‘is not universally available in South Africa, it is best to seek the advice of your local healthcare provider’.

“Safe and effective vaccines against mumps have been available since the 1960s. [The MMR vaccine] is not part of the Expanded Programme for Immunisation for South Africa and is therefore only available in the private sector,” it states and notes that mumps is not a notifiable medical condition.

There is currently no cure for the disease, but supportive treatment, such as bed rest, fluids, analgesia and fever reduction, are given to help alleviate symptoms.