"I had mumps as a child and became completely deaf in one ear"

At just four years old, Emma Davies-McIntosh contracted mumps - an illness her family never imagined would leave lasting scars.

But behind the headaches and fatigue, something more sinister was unfolding. Unbeknown to her parents, the virus quietly stole her hearing in one ear, altering the course of her life forever.

Now a valued member of the Cardiff and Vale Public Health Team, Emma has shared her story to encourage parents to get their children vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella at the earliest opportunity.

“If vaccination rates start to fall, we will start to see incidents of infectious diseases in more significant numbers - and conditions like measles and mumps can be very serious, particularly for children,” she explained.

“I’ve been left with a permanent hearing loss from mumps, and as I think about getting older, I’m terrified about losing my hearing completely.”

As the years went by, Emma’s parents started noticing that she was always putting the phone to her left ear instead of her right.

“But it wasn’t until I went to school - and started having hearing tests in a school environment - that my parents were informed that I was deaf on my right side,” added Emma, who was diagnosed with hearing loss at the age of seven.

“Perhaps I hadn’t noticed my hearing problem in the way my parents might have expected me to.”

After her diagnosis, Emma was advised to sit at the front of the classroom in school to make sure she was close enough to hear the teachers.

“But as I got older - and wanted to be a bit cooler and mix more with my friends - I’d put myself in places where I couldn’t hear what was going on,” she admitted.

“There was perhaps an element of embarrassment at my so-called disability, and I sometimes found myself withdrawing from conversations and being the quiet one in the corner because I was afraid of not hearing things properly.”

When Emma left secondary school, she joined the University Officers’ Training Corps, a British Army Reserve training unit that helps students develop leadership skills and military experience.

“It opened up the opportunity for me to join the Army. I always knew that my hearing impairment would be a barrier to that, but I was determined and stubborn,” she added.

“After three years, I put myself up for the Regular Commissions Board which decides whether you’re okay to go to Sandhurst for Army Officer Training - and I passed. At that point I probably became a little too excited about it and I started to map out my future ahead of me.

“Then I went to the medical - and I failed it. My dreams were just dashed in one moment. It was devastating.”

Emma retrained and ended up pursuing a successful career in public health. She now works as a Principal Public Health Practitioner in the Cardiff and Vale Public Health Team specialising in childhood immunisations.

She believes that her mumps diagnosis and subsequent hearing loss drew her towards this alternate career path.

“As an adult I’ve become more confident in telling people I’m deaf, but now I work in the Public Health Team, I tell them I’m deaf because I had the mumps as a child,” she explained.

“But I also joined the team for the broader determinants of health; the things in life that we don’t have control over such as the state of our physical environment, our genetics, our income and education level, and our relationships.

“What occurred to me is vaccination is a choice you can make. It’s free, it’s accessible and we can use it to prevent our children from suffering serious harm.”

The two-dose measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is the safest, most effective way to help protect against all three infections. They are routinely given to babies and toddlers at GP practices - but it is never too late to catch up.

Outbreaks of measles have occurred across several parts of the UK in recent months because uptake of the MMR vaccine has fallen. It also claimed the life of a baby in Merseyside in July 2025.

Emma added: “As a society, I think we have forgotten the serious complications that can come with these conditions, and we almost think that those infectious diseases have been eliminated. The fact is, they were eliminated because of vaccination and are now creeping back.

“We have the power to protect our children from these risks.”

In 2026, there are plans to add varicella (chicken pox) to the vaccine schedule for young children, making it the MMRV vaccine.

At present, GPs invite children to receive the two-dose MMR vaccine 12 months old (first dose) and 3 years and 4 months (second dose), but from January 1, 2026, children will be offered their second dose at 18 months.

If you would like more information about the MMR vaccine, please contact the Local Child Health Team on 02921 836926 or 02921 836929. For further information about the MMR vaccine, visit the Public Health Wales website.

A few important points about measles

• Measles is one of the most infectious diseases in the world. If one person has it, 9 out of 10 of their unvaccinated close contacts could become infected

• Measles can be much more serious than just a rash. It has the potential to cause severe complications such as sight loss, hearing loss, pneumonia and meningitis which can cause lifelong disability. In extreme circumstances, measles can be fatal

• Unvaccinated young children and those who are pregnant are at greatest risk of severe complications from measles

• If there is a confirmed case of measles in a school, any close contact who has not been vaccinated will have to isolate for 21 days. This could prove very disruptive to a child’s education, and is likely to impact on parents in terms of work and childcare arrangements

• Any child who is showing the most common symptoms of measles – such as a rash, fever, cough, runny nose and red eyes – should be kept at home and away from any vulnerable settings such as hospitals. Book a GP appointment or call NHS 111 immediately.

A few important points about mumps

• Mumps is a highly infectious disease. If one person has it, 4 to 7 of their unvaccinated close contacts could become infected.

• The illness starts with mild symptoms such as headache, fever and fatigue. You may not realise your child is affected at this stage (but they may still be contagious). In more than 70% of mumps cases painful swelling then occurs in the parotid glands causing puffy cheeks and a tender, swollen jaw. The swelling occurs may be on one of both sides of the face.
• While symptoms may be mild, mumps can cause severe complications such as permanent hearing loss, encephalitis (inflammation on the brain), meningitis and orchitis (inflammation of the testicles). Adults are more at risk of contracting meningitis and boys are more likely to experience complications from mumps than girls.

A few important points about the MMR vaccine

• More than 88% of people who get both doses of the MMR vaccine are protected from mumps.

• More than 99% of people who get both doses of the MMR vaccine are protected from measles and rubella, and about 88% are protected from mumps.
• It is never too late to get the MMR vaccine. Please speak to your GP.