Mumps is transmitted primarily by which route?

Correct answer: C. Respiratory droplets and direct contact with infected saliva

• A. Mumps has no insect vector.
• B. Mumps is not blood-borne.
• C. CORRECT. MUMPS is caused by a paramyxovirus spread through RESPIRATORY DROPLETS and direct contact with infected SALIVA. Its hallmark is painful bilateral PAROTID swelling, making it directly relevant to the dental differential diagnosis of salivary gland enlargement. Patients are infectious from a few days before parotid swelling appears until roughly five days afterward — meaning transmission occurs before the diagnosis is apparent.
• D. Fecal–oral transmission characterizes hepatitis A and E, polio and rotavirus — not mumps.

Note: Salivary gland swelling differential: MUMPS (viral, usually bilateral, in unvaccinated patients), BACTERIAL SIALADENITIS (usually unilateral, purulent discharge from the duct, in dehydrated or debilitated patients), SIALOLITHIASIS (unilateral, swelling that worsens at mealtimes), and SJÖGREN SYNDROME (bilateral, chronic, with xerostomia and dry eyes). Mumps is prevented by the MMR vaccine.