1 Department of Pediatrics and Contagious Diseases, Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital, 3395 Scranton Road, Cleveland, Ohio, 44109
2 The Department of Pediatrics, Western Reserve University School of Medicine, 3395 Scranton Road, Cleveland, Ohio, 44109
The mumps skin test, developed by Enders et al., in 1945, has been especially useful in identifying individuals who are immune to mumps either as a result of clinical illness caused by the mumps virus or a subclinical infection. A positive skin test can be demonstrated in 98% of persons who have a rise in complement-fixing antibody titer to mumps virus, and skin hypersensitivity may develop from 1 week to 3 months after infection. Although repeated skin tests with mumps antigen are not commonly performed, occasionally it is necessary to repeat a skin test within a few months or a year after a previous one.