Rubella is sometime called German Measles or 3-day Measles. It is a generally mild disease caused by the rubella virus. Rubella virus is classified as a togavirus, genus Rubivirus. It usually strikes in the winter and spring, and causes a slight fever, a rash on the face and neck, and (when teenagers or adults get the disease) swollen glands in the back of the neck and arthritis-like symptoms in the joints. It is spread from person to person through the air, by coughing, sneezing or breathing. The incubation period of rubella is 14 days, with a range of 12–23 days.

The greatest danger from rubella is to unborn babies. If a woman gets rubella in the early months of her pregnancy, there is an 80% chance that her baby will be born deaf or blind, with a damaged heart or small brain, or mentally retarded. This is called Congenital Rubella Syndrome, or CRS. Miscarriages are also common among women who get rubella while they are pregnant. The virus may affect all organs and cause a variety of congenital defects. Infection may lead to fetal death, spontaneous abortion, or premature delivery.     

SYMPTOMS

• The mean incubation period is 14 days. In its typical clinical form, the disease is characterized by a transient erythematous rash with moderate fever, conjunctivitis, coryza, and sub-occipital adenopathy (swelling of neck lymph nodes).

• In the case of CRS, infants develop ophthalmic, auditory, cardiac, and craniofacial malformations, which are more severe when transmission occurs early during pregnancy. (25)