Rubulavirus
If not vaccinated against mumps, susceptible individuals catch the disease by breathing around an infected person who has coughed or sneezed, releasing their contaminated saliva. Those who have had mumps are usually immune to future infections of the disease. Children have the highest risk of catching mumps, and it is rare for an adult to contract mumps. The incubation period for mumps can range from a couple weeks to a month, while the illness period is a few weeks. The swelling of the salivary glands is caused when the virus travels from the respiratory tract to the salivary glands and multiplies within the glands, causing the glands to swell.
Prenatal development
If a mother is infected with a disease, the placenta cannot always filter out pathogens. Viruses such as rubella, chicken pox, mumps, herpes, and human immunodeficiency (HIV) are associated with increased risk of miscarriage, low birth weight, and prematurity, physical malformations, and intellectual disabilities. The human immunodeficiency virus can lead to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Untreated HIV infected expectant mothers pass the virus to their developing offspring between 10 and 20 percent of the time. . Expectant mothers infected with bacterial or parasitic diseases may also pass the diseases on to the fetus. Examples of diseases include chlamydia, syphilis, tuberculosis, malaria, and toxoplasmosis. One of the most common of these diseases is toxoplasmosis. A pregnant female may become infected through contact with contaminated soil, such as through gardening, eating raw or undercooked meat or unwashed vegetables or fruits, or contact with the feces of infected cats. If the exposure occurs during the first trimester, eye and brain damage may result. Exposure later in pregnancy may result in mild visual and cognitive impairments.