Rubella Topics

• friedrich hoffmann
• congenital rubella syndrome
• congenital cataracts
• incurable illnesses
• mid eighteenth century
• german measles
• incubation period
• german physicians
• temperate climates
• spontaneous abortion
• weeks of pregnancy
• rubella virus
• early pregnancy
• older girls
• clinical description
• orlow
• de bergen
• ophthalmologist
• respiratory tract
• mcallister

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Rubella, Rubella

The name "rubella" is derived from the Latin, meaning little red . Rubella is also known as German measles because the disease was first described by German physicians in the mid-eighteenth century. This disease is often mild and attacks often pass unnoticed. The disease can last one to three days. Children recover more quickly than adults. Infection of the mother by Rubella virus during pregnancy can be serious; if the mother is infected within the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, the child may be born with congenital rubella syndrome (CRS), which entails a range of serious incurable illnesses. Spontaneous abortion occurs in up to 20% of cases.

The older the person is the more severe the symptoms are likely to be. Up to one-third of older girls or women experience joint pain or arthritic type symptoms with rubella. The virus is contracted through the respiratory tract and has an incubation period of 2 to 3 weeks. During this incubation period, the carrier is contagious but may show no symptoms.

The WHO recommends the first dose is given at 12 to 18 months of age with a second dose at 36 months. Pregnant women are usually tested for immunity to rubella early on. Women found to be susceptible are not vaccinated until after the baby is born because the vaccine contains live virus.

The virus tends to peak during the spring in countries with temperate climates. Before the vaccine to rubella was introduced in 1969, widespread outbreaks usually occurred every 69 years in the United States and 35 years in Europe, mostly affecting children in the 5-9 year old age group.

Friedrich Hoffmann made the first clinical description of rubella in 1740, which was confirmed by de Bergen in 1752 and Orlow in 1758.

Subsequently, ophthalmologist Norman McAllister Gregg found 78 cases of congenital cataracts in infants and 68 of them were born to mothers who had caught rubella in early pregnancy.

Source: Wikipedia > Rubella