STUDIES ON THE PREVENTION OF MUMPS
THE development of satisfactory procedures for the propagation of mumps virus in the chick embryo has brought within reach the possibility of immunization against the disease. Before discussing the various approaches to prevention of mumps, it is well to define clearly the need for such vaccines and who should be vaccinated. Mumps on the whole is a childhood disease and usually mild when restricted to the salivary glands. In the adult the disease may be more severe, particularly on account of socalled complications such as the involvement of the reproductive glands in the male. In view of this experience vaccination of children should be attempted only if (a) a prolonged immunity can be attained or (b) if certain other clinical conditions in the child render an attack of mumps undesirable at a particular time. In the latter case as well as in adults vaccination may he considered of value even if only a short term immunity can be induced. Vaccines appear desirable for susceptible parents, for instance, who have been exposed by their children, for hospital staffs in contact with mumps patients, and for college students or military personnel, where outbreaks of the disease may interrupt the normal course of training. A second point to be considered concerns the question of susceptibility. It has been well established, particularly since the advent of specific immunologic procedures, that mumps virus causes overt disease in about two thirds of human beings; in the other third the infection remains inapparent but nevertheless induces permanent immunity.