Tue 9 February 2010
The vaccines > MMR > The diseases
Rubella
Rubella (German measles) is a disease caused by a virus. In children it is usually mild and can go unnoticed. It causes a short-lived rash, swollen glands and a sore throat. Rubella is very serious for unborn babies. It can seriously damage their sight, hearing, heart and brain. Rubella infection in the first three months of pregnancy causes damage to the unborn baby in nine out of ten cases. This condition is called congenital rubella syndrome (CRS). In many of the cases, pregnant women caught rubella from their own, or their friends, children. In the five years before the MMR vaccine was introduced, about 43 babies a year were born in the UK with congenital rubella syndrome. Rubella is spread in the same way as measles and mumps. It is about as infectious as flu.
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