MUMPS IN PREGNANCY

It has been stated, we believe erroneously, that mumps is dangerous when contracted during pregnancy. For example, Vetter (Infect Med 14:730-733, 1997), citing a single 1980 article, writes: "Mumps infection during the first trimester of pregnancy can increase the rate of spontaneous abortion. Congenital anomalies associated with mumps infection during pregnancy include endocardial fibroelastosis; imperforate anus; spina bifida; and auditory, optic, and urogenital deformities." However, Shepard in his authorative Catalog of Teratogenic Agents (J Hopkins U Press, 8th edition, 1995) does not consider that mumps merits inclusion as a proven or even possible teratogenic agent, that is as an agent capable of causing a spontaneous abortion (a miscarriage) or causing congenital malformations (the baby is born with birth defects). Furthermore, mumps does not even warrant mention in Smith's Recognizable Patterns of Human Malformation (by KL Jones, WB Saunders Co., 5th edition, 1997), a key standard text on dysmorphology (the study of malformations). Based also on our review of the facts available at this time (Oct, 1997), we conclude that there is insufficient evidence to label mumps as a particular hazard in pregnancy.