Orchitis and Oophoritis
Orchitis is the inflammation of the testicles, and it occurs in 50% percent of cases of long-standing mumps infection in adults. In case of orchitis, the most common complaint is a painful swelling of the scrotum, and it can lead to sterility in rare instances. Other symptoms are fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, and severe abdominal pain. Only 5% of cases develop bilateral involvement of the testes. The size of the testes is increased four times to the average size. Most patients would also report loss of turgor and testicular atrophy as a major complication of untreated mumps. Fever, edema, pain, and other constitutional symptoms subside within a week, but proper consultation with the doctor is unavoidable to initiate a proper treatment and avoid suffering from fatal complications. Enzyme immunoassay for mumps antibodies is used as a laboratory diagnosis of the infection. In the earliest phase of the infection, IgM antibodies are seen in the serum, but after few days, a fourfold increase in IgG titer is considered diagnostic for mumps infection. People who have not received MMR vaccine are at high risk of developing orchitis as a complication. It is rare in children of age less than 10 years of age, but the risk is highly enhanced in patients aged 15 years old and above (post-pubertal age).
Oophoritis is the inflammation of the ovaries. It is far less common than orchitis as it only occurs in 5% of post-pubertal females. Patients report severe pelvic pain, fever, and abdominal tenderness. Female may suffer from premature menopause due to oophoritis. Aberrant menstrual function and menstrual irregularities can also be seen in such cases.
