Objective To understand the current epidemiological status, clinical futures and economic burden of mumps infection in children in the Shanghai area.Methods A retrospective cross-sectional clinical study was conducted to analyze clinical data from children with mumps including 890 outpatient and 270 inpatient cases occurring in 2005.Results Mumps infections were prevalent throughout the whole year in Shanghai with infections peaking from April through July. Among the 270 inpatient cases, the majority (67.8%) of cases occurred in children of families who were originally living outside Shanghai. Only eight (3.0%) inpatients had received one dose of MMR vaccine. The majority of children with mumps in this inpatient population were older than 3 years. Among the 890 outpatient cases, 234 (26.3%) experienced complications and were admitted to the isolation wards. Complications included meningitis and/or encephalitis (87.6%), orchitis(6.0%),pancreatitis(4.7%),and deafness (0.4%). All patients survived. The direct medical costs for each outpatient clinic visit were between 114.9 and 184.7 Yuan averaging 142.9±20.5 Yuan. The average number of visits was 1.4 per patient. In contrast, the direct medical costs for inpatient admission ranged from 624.6 Yuan to 6190.2 Yuan with costs averaging 1 897.8±744.2 Yuan. Conclusion Mumps is a common communicable disease for children in Shanghai that imposes a threat on children's health. Children attending school are a high-risk, susceptible population. Results from this study show that the mumps vaccine should be routinely administered to children in order to protect them against mumps infection and decrease the complications and financial burdens of this disease.