Parotitis (mumps)

Pedro Machuca
1490, Toledo - 1550, Granada, Spain

Trained in Italy, Machuca paints this moonlit descent from the cross in a mannerist style, using bright colors and surprising details.

For example, at the front right there is a sick boy with a bandage around his head.

♦ The Descent from the Cross, 1547 ♦

♦ Diagnosis
Main symptoms: Swollen left cheek, supportive bandage with cotton, wool, and ointment; pained expression, sunken nose, large forehead.
Secondary symptoms: Small boy.
Clinical diagnosis: Parotitis epidemica, mumps.

♦ Definition: mumps
An acute infectious disease caused by a virus and characterized by swelling of the parotid gland and sometimes also of the other salivary glands, pancreas, ovaries, or testicles.
After an incubation period of 2-3 weeks, the disease begins with fever, pain under the ear, and swelling of the parotid gland.
Over the course of a week, the swelling subsides without the formation of pus.
Recovery from the disease usually results in immunity.
♦ Discussion
The diagnosis is often not obvious, as long as there is no painful cramping of the jaw muscles when opening the mouth and slight swelling of one or both parotid glands appears.
This swelling is indeed an initial sign. The swollen glands shrink within a few days and may then be followed by swelling of an unaffected gland.
Inflammation of the testicle (orchitis) can also occur during puberty or adolescence and usually occurs on only one side. If it occurs on both sides, it can lead to sterility. Source: Jan Dequeker
The artist and the doctor

Jan Dequeker
The artist and the doctor

Photo's
Wikimedia.org
Wikimedia Commons

Carl Larsson - Esbjorn Reading During the Mumps_niet RV
https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/433260426646969070/