Pandemics, Epidemics, and Vaccines: History, Science, & Controversies: Measles, Mumps, & Rubella (MMR)

Information from the CDC on the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Diseases and how to protect against them all.

Mumps is a contagious disease that is caused by a virus. Mumps typically starts with fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, and loss of appetite. Then, most people will have swelling of their salivary glands (often referred to as parotitis when the parotid gland, in front and below the ear, swells). This is what causes the puffy cheeks and a tender, swollen jaw.

Rubella is a contagious disease caused by a virus. It is also called German measles, but it is caused by a different virus than measles. Most people who get rubella usually have mild illness, with symptoms that can include a low-grade fever, sore throat, and a rash that starts on the face and spreads to the rest of the body. Some people may also have a headache, pink eye, and general discomfort before the rash appears. Rubella can cause a miscarriage or serious birth defects in an unborn baby if a woman is infected while she is pregnant.

A Credo Reference landing page on the MMR vaccine. This page includes links to reference works, journal articles, and a mind map.

As of 2017, around 91.5 percent of children in the U.S. aged 19 to 35 months had been vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR). The MMR vaccine is widely used around the world and is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for adults who don’t have immunity and all children.

In New York City from March to May 2020, there was an 82 percent decrease in the number of MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine doses administered to children 2-8 years compared to the same months in 2018 and 2019. The percent change was less pronounced from June to September when stay-at-home orders were mostly lifted, but still less MMR vaccines were given than in the years prior. This statistic reveals the median weekly percent change in MMR vaccinations administered to U.S. children aged 2-8 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic from March to September 2020, compared to the same periods in 2018 and 2019, by state.