Rubella

Introduction

Rubella is a mild childhood disease, also known as German measles.
Rubella vaccination is currently not part of the national routine immunisation schedule. The reasons are:

Natural infections in childhood render 85-90% of women of childbearing age protected against the disease
No research on rubella or congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) has been done in South Africa. Therefore rubella vaccination cannot be included in the schedule without scientific foundation.

What is rubella?

Rubella is a mild viral illness caused by the rubella virus. It is an infectious disease and dangerous because of its ability to harm unborn babies.

What are the signs and symptoms of rubella?

Infected people get a rash that appears like small, fine pink spots. The rash first appears on the face and progresses from head to foot, lasting about 3 days.
Children usually develop few or no other symptoms.
Adults can have mild fever, headache, reddened eyes, swollen glands behind the ears, tiredness, and joint pain.

How do people get rubella?

People get rubella by breathing in droplets that get into the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks.
Rubella can also spread by direct contact with fluids from the nose or throat of an infected person.

How is rubella diagnosed?

Diagnosis is made on the basis of signs and symptoms, blood tests and history taking.

What is the treatment for rubella?

There is no treatment for rubella. The illness usually runs its course in a few days

How can rubella be prevented?

Children can be immunised at 15 months to be protected and to protect others from rubella. The rubella vaccine is part of the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine provided by private health sector.
To help protect unborn babies from CRS, women must not be exposed to rubella in their first three months of pregnancy
Any pregnant woman who has been exposed to rubella should be referred to the nearest health facility

What complications can result from rubella?

When a woman gets rubella during pregnancy, especially during the first 3 months, the infection is likely to spread to the unborn baby and cause congenital rubella syndrome (CRS). CRS can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, and severe birth defects.
The most common birth defects are:

Blindness
Deafness
Heart damage
Microcephaly (the head is too small for the body)
mental retardation
Liver and spleen damage.

Community participation

Any child who is suspected to be suffering from rubella should be taken to the nearest health facility immediately for examination and investigation

Children suffering from rubella should not attend school, day care or crèche (should be kept away from other children) until they no longer have rubella rash

Women in their first three months of pregnancy should not be exposed to rubella

Women known to be pregnant or attempting to become pregnant should not receive rubella vaccine.

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