Is it common to have never had the mumps?

I was vaccinated and still had the mumps. I wouldn’t worry about it to much, just check with your doctor or county health department if you feel you should get the vaccine. If you have been exposed many times like you stated, maybe your immunity to mumps are already built up.

An older sister and brother both had the mumps when they were about four and five years old. There are a couple of adorable photos of them both swelled up . This was about six years before the MMR vaccine came out.

I personally would have my children vaccinated, but understand why some parents opt not to.

I never got the mumps or the measles, but I got a whopper of a case of chicken pox! I think you should talk to your doctor about the vaccination, because it’s a very important decision. Ask about the pros and cons of it, and if the doc says there are no cons, then get a different doctor. We personally choose to not vaccinate our kids because there can be some dangerous side effects.

Talk to your doctor about whether you should get the vaccine now. The complications of adult mumps can be very severe, including deafness and infertility. (if I am remembering correctly)

They began using mumps vaccine in the US in the early 1950’s. Are you sure you weren’t vaccinated?

Get a mumps titer and see if you are immune.

I had the mumps but my 3 older brothers didn’t get them. There’s great 8mm footage of this event.~

What about chicken pox?

I have never had chicken pox.

I am amazed that I did not contract chicken pox, while in uniform for all those years.

@john65pennington Same answer, get a chicken pox (varicella) titer and see if you have immunity. Getting Mumps or Chicken pox as an adult carries more risk. If you find out you are immune you won’t have to worry if there is an outbreak where you live. In fact I think shingles can shed virus and give someone chicken pox, so you would have to worry about if someine has shingles also.

People do get through childhood with never having chicken pox, I know two people. One I know personally, when she got it in her thirties it was a very mild case and she was fine. The other wound up dying in a hospital my girlfriend works at due to complications secondary to the chicken pox. He might have had other physical problems that made him much weaker than the average adult, I would guess that is the case, but I don’t know.

Did your children get chicken pox, and you didn’t catch it? My guess is if that is the case you probably do have natural immunity, either you were born with it or you had chicken pox so mildly you never got diagnosed.

@BarnacleBill Are you sure about that date? I was a toddler and child in the mid to late 50’s, and I can assure you that everyone my age just got the measles, mumps and chicken pox. Some parents deliberately took their kids to visit a child that had it, just to get it over with.