- The ARC - California Edition -

Rubella Disease

"The childhood disease Rubella (also known as the German measles) has reached record low levels during the last three years because of intense childhood immunizations efforts," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

With the advent of wide spread vaccine use, the Rubella cases have decreased dramatically. From 1969 through 1989, the numbers of annually reported cases of this highly contagious viral disease fell 99.6%.

There was a resurgence of the disease during 1990 and 1991 which resulted in renewed attention to vaccination programs. In the five years since then, the incidence of Rubella has averaged about 200 cases annually, reaching record low levels.

For most adults, Rubella is usually a mild disease with a rash and a fever. However, for a woman who contracts the disease in the early months of her pregnancy, Rubella can cause major damage to her unborn baby.

Half of the women who catch this “mild disease” when they are in their first trimester of pregnancy may lose their babies, or may deliver severely damaged babies that became mentally retarded, blind, deaf, and/or have heart defects because these mothers contracted Rubella during pregnancy.

The last major Rubella epidemic in the U.S. was in 1964. During that single year, almost 20,000 babies were born with birth defects. The use of vaccine has been shown to stop this type of lifelong damage to infants.

Even though the number of cases are very low, outbreaks of the disease are still occurring. During the past three years, 75% of the 567 Rubella cases reported to CDC were located in 5 sites, the biggest being in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and North Carolina. Most of these cases occurred among adults for whom history of vaccination was unavailable.

In these outbreaks, transmission occurred in settings where people gather, such as workplaces, homeless shelters, a substance-abuse treatment center, a hospital, a county jail, and a college.

A total of 12 infants with laboratory - confirmed Congential Rubella Syndrome (CRS) were born during 1994-1996.

Control of Congential Rubella Syndrome (CRS)

-- Increase vaccination coverage in children.

-- Implement laws requiring all students receive 2 doses of measles-mumps- rubella vaccine.

-- Encourage health-care providers to take advantage of every opportunity to vaccinate susceptible teens and adults.

-- Adopt prematriculation vaccination requirements in colleges.

-- Initiate prevention and control programs in correctional institutions.

-- Encourage persons in religious groups who do not seek health care to accept vaccination.

-- Target special vaccination programs toward young adults who are likely to have contact with persons infected with Rubella from countries that do not routinely vaccinate against Rubella.