Mumps
The name "mumps" came from the phrase "to mumble," which was a description of the disease because of the side effects it causes. This "mumbling" resulted from the painful swelling of the salivary glands which is the most typical symptom. Mumps is spread from person to person through coughing and sneezing and through close contact (even regular conversation) with infected persons.
While usually a mild disease, mumps can also produce swelling of the brain, nerves and spinal cord which in some cases leads to paralysis, seizures and fluid in the brain. About one out of every four teenage or adult men who get mumps will develop a painful swelling of the testicles (orchitis) which can lead to sterility and testicular cancer.
Prior to the mumps vaccine, the U.S. suffered approximately 200,000 cases of mumps per year with 20 to 30 deaths. At that time the mumps virus was the leading cause of viral meningoencephalitis (a medical condition that resembles both meningitis and encephalitis). Since a second dose of mumps vaccine was added to the standard childhood MMR series, annual cases are now in the hundreds rather than the thousands.