Rubella (Print Version)

Also called: Also called: German measles, Three day measles

Rubella is an illness with flu-like symptoms followed by a rash. Common symptoms include

Low-grade fever
Headache
Runny nose
Red eyes
Muscle or joint pain

Rubella is usually mild. You may get it and not even know it. However, adults who get rubella often feel sicker than children do. The biggest danger of rubella is if a woman gets it during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. She may lose the baby, or the virus could cause problems to her unborn baby. Those problems could include cataracts, deafness or damage to the heart or brain.

A virus causes rubella. It can spread from one person to another through the air or through close contact with someone who has it. There is no treatment for rubella, but the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine can prevent it.

Start Here

Rubella (German Measles)(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/german_measles.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/parent/en_espanol/infecciones/german_measles_esp.html
Rubella - In Short - http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/rubella/in-short-adult.htm

Overviews

Rubella(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/rubella/DS00332/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
Rubella Questions & Answers(Immunization Action Coalition) - http://www.vaccineinformation.org/rubella/qandadis.asp

Prevention/Screening

Current Vaccine Shortages and Delays(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/shortages/
Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Vaccines (MMR)(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - Links to PDF - http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-mmr.pdf
Also available in Spanish http://www.immunize.org/vis/spmmr.pdf
Rubella Test(American Association for Clinical Chemistry) - http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/rubella/test.html

Related Issues

Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) Vaccine and Autism Fact Sheet(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/mmr_autism_factsheet.htm

Pictures & Photographs

Rubella Photos(Immunization Action Coalition) - http://www.vaccineinformation.org/rubella/photos.asp

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Rubella(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Rubella%22

Journal Articles

References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Article: Adolescent immunizations: missed opportunities for prevention. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18829792&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: London's catch-up vaccination campaign against measles, mumps, and rubella reaches... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18815174&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Healthcare workers and immunity to infectious diseases. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18782402&tool=MedlinePlus
Rubella -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=(rubella[majr]+OR+rubella+virus[majr]+OR+rubella+vaccine[majr]+OR+measles-mumps-rubella+vaccine[majr])+NOT+rubella+syndrome,congenital[mh]+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
Congenital rubella syndrome -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=rubella+syndrome,congenital[majr]+AND+humans[mh]+AND+english[la]+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus

Organizations

National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/
National Foundation for Infectious Diseases - http://www.nfid.org/
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/

Statistics

FASTATS: Measles(National Center for Health Statistics) - http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/measles.htm

Children

German Measles (Rubella)(Logical Images) - http://www.visualdxhealth.com/child/rubellaGermanMeasles.htm
Rubella (German Measles)(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/german_measles.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/parent/en_espanol/infecciones/german_measles_esp.html

Women

Rubella(March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation) - http://www.marchofdimes.com/pnhec/188_673.asp
Also available in Spanish http://www.nacersano.org/centro/9254_9658.asp

Adults

Facts about Rubella for Adults(National Foundation for Infectious Diseases) - Links to PDF - http://www.nfid.org/pdf/factsheets/rubellaadult.pdf

You may also be interested in these MedlinePlus related pages:

Childhood Immunization - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/childhoodimmunization.html
Immunization - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/immunization.html
Children and Teenagers - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/childrenandteenagers.html
Infections - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/infections.html
Skin, Hair and Nails - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/skinhairandnails.html

The primary NIH organization for research on Rubella is the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - http://www.niaid.nih.gov/