Nagpur:
Rubella isn’t that threatening if acquired by a non-pregnant patient but if found in pregnant women, it can have an adverse effect on the growing fetus, say experts from the city. Measles or mumps can be diagnosed during pregnancy and patients can be advised for termination of their pregnancy. However, infection by rubella cannot be diagnosed.
“Having fever for a day can also mean being infected by rubella. Sometimes it is diagnosed only retrospectively after an abortion or disability in the baby,” said Dr Ujjwala Deshmukh, consulting obstetrician and gynaecologist.
If infected with rubella during pregnancy, the disease can cause blindness, deafness, dumbness and heart defects. There is no treatment which can destroy the virus even if the disease is diagnosed during pregnancy. Hence, prevention is better than cure.
“We can reduce the incidence by inoculation. Measles, mumps and rubella (MMR vaccine) doses are given in childhood, but by the time they become adolescents, the immunity of the vaccination reduces. A booster dose is required in young age to avoid infection. We advise patients to get vaccination of rubella before marriage or pregnancy,” said Dr Deshmukh.
Overall awareness of rubella is still less, unless one is vying to go abroad where this vaccination is compulsory. The incidence of rubella is prevalent everywhere, including Nagpur, as mutation in the virus occurs every year. The symptoms of rubella are similar to common viral infections.
State health department has begun preparation for a mass vaccination drive for rubella for the first time this year. The drive is likely to begin from the last week of November. Parents aren’t convinced about the vaccination drive to be held in CBSE schools.
“Conducting vaccinations in schools and colleges will definitely help contain the virus,” said Dr Ankita Kothe, past president of Nagpur Obstetrics and Gynaecological Society, adding, “Most times we diagnose rubella when a woman comes to us after an abortion or after having delivered a baby.”
The first vaccination should be given to a girl between 11-13 months, said gynecologist Dr Babita Misar, appreciating the efforts by Amravati district authorities for starting its campaign and counselling school authorities.
VACCINATION IN YOUNG AGE MUST
Rubella is transmitted from one person to another through air and can spread easily. Often young children can transmit the disease to adults
The vaccine has an immunity of 10 years. After being given a dose at birth, it should be taken again either during adolescence or before marriage
Rubella vaccination is not given to pregnant women, immunosuppressed women and those with respiratory diseases
After vaccination, a woman should not become pregnant until three months
Many countries have adopted for two doses of MMR vaccine, or MMR vaccine with a second dose of rubella
