Dear Super,
Mumps is one of the commonest childhood viral diseases, particularly among children aged five to nine years. It causes painful swelling of the salivary glands below the ears (parotid glands), affecting one or both glands and resulting in fever. The disease is less severe in children than in teenagers and adults. In severe cases, many organs, including the testes, ovaries, brain, spinal cord and pancreas, may become inflamed, although complications are rare. These complications may include diabetes and, if the ovaries or testes are affected, infertility in both men and women.
Fortunately, mumps mostly affects children, where it may not cause infertility. However, if a boy is affected after puberty, or if both testes become inflamed by the disease, infertility may result. In men, apart from a drop in sperm count, there may be some shrinkage of the testicles in some cases, but rarely will there be permanent infertility. Mumps is not a chronic disease whose persistence leads to infertility. Immunisation and proper management of mumps are, therefore, required to prevent the rare complication of infertility.
Most male infertility is usually due to sperm delivery problems, such as impotence or blockages to the vas deferens, low sperm counts, or poor sperm quality. The latter two are usually caused by lifestyle factors, including obesity, emotional stress and illicit drugs, apart from environmental, genetic or medical conditions. Some fertility problems in men can be corrected, while others may not. However, this requires the couple to visit the doctor together for expert help. In cases where the problem is not correctable, assisted reproduction, including IVF, or adoption may help.