Rubella

From ArticleWorld

Rubella is an easy form of measles and often passes unnoticed, making it quite hard to diagnose. The virus is usually transmitted by inhalation of of airborne droplets, and the disease itself rarely lasts longer than five days, with children recovering easier and more quickly than adults. Transmission from mother to child via the placenta is also possible.

Rubella is also called German measles, which has nothing to do with the country, but comes from the Latin "germanus" (similar), a name given to it due to the many symptoms it share with measles.

Symptoms

The rubella displays various symptoms, including the swelling of glands and lymph nodes, persisting for up to a week. There is a fever, but it is rarely higher than 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit). Skin dryness rash may appear, as well as Forchheimer's sign, but the latter only occurs in about 20% of the cases. Nasal congestion may appear, associated with an inflammation of the eyes. Joint pain and swelling may occur, associated with testicle pain in males and headaches. Very few cases show weakness or numbness of the nerves.

Rubella is risky because, while not being very severe, it can cause the congenital rubella syndrome if it is transmitted from the mother to the child. The congenital rubella can cause serious birth defects, including malformations of the heart, deafness, eye defects or hepatomegaly.

Prevention and treatment

The common treatment involves administering acetaminophen until the disease runs its course. Congenital rubella is not treatable. Rubella is not too common nowadays, as a vaccine is available since 1969, and most people in Western countries are vaccinated at least once. Some countries like Cuba eradicated it in the 1990s, and it is estimated that it will be completely eradicated in South and North America by 2010.