Congenital rubella infection

Is my baby at risk of rubella infection? Is congenital rubella syndrome contagious? If infection occurs 0–days before conception, the infant has a risk of being affected. When rubella infection occurs during early pregnancy, serious consequences–such as miscarriages, stillbirths, and a constellation of severe birth defects in infants–can result.

Diagnosis is by serology and viral culture.

There is no specific treatment. Prevention is by routine vaccination. Infection with rubella virus causes the most severe damage when the mother is infected early in pregnancy, especially in the first weeks (first trimester). After the fourth month, if the mother has a rubella infection , it is less likely to harm the developing baby.

The number of babies born with this condition is much smaller since the rubella vaccine was developed. Human cytomegalovirus is one of the vertically transmitted infections that lead to congenital abnormalities. Its major complication of maternal infection in early pregnancy is congenital rubella syndrome.

Sometimes, in spite of a complicated medical workup, a congenital infection cannot be proven. In particular, it is known that the fetus of early pregnancy is at greater risk than at later stages. Measles infection of the mother during the first trimester of pregnancy is associated with encephalitis, hearing loss, and blindness in the newborn infant, an later, intellectual disabilities.

While rubella virus infection usually causes a mild fever and rash in children and adults, infection during pregnancy, especially during the first trimester, can result in miscarriage, fetal death, stillbirth, or infants with congenital malformations, known as congenital rubella syndrome (CRS). Rubella is an acute, contagious viral infection. If such an infection does not lead to miscarriage or still birth, the neonate may show severe congenital malformations.

Fetal infection occurs transplacentally during the maternal viremic phase, but the mechanisms by which rubella virus causes fetal damage are poorly understood. The fetal defects observed in congenital rubella syndrome are likely secondary to vasculitis resulting in tissue necrosis without inflammation. The frequency of congenital rubella thus depends upon the number of women of childbearing age who are susceptible to the virus, and the frequency of rubella infection in the community.

Before the development of rubella virus vaccine, epidemics of rubella and congenital rubella occurred about every six to nine years. Most adults and children have already been vaccinated against rubella , so the risk of a baby being born with congenital rubella syndrome is extraordinarily low. Fewer than five infants each year are diagnosed with congenital rubella syndrome.

The acronym TORCH stands for the causative pathogens of congenital infections: Toxoplasma gondii, others (including Treponema pallidum, Listeria, Varicella, and parvovirus B19), rubella virus, cytomegalovirus , and herpes simplex virus (HSV). The epidemiology of rubella infection is discussed separately. Signs are multiple congenital anomalies that can result in fetal death.

However, to our knowledge this is the first data in Ethiopia concerning epidemiology of congenital CMV and rubella among newborns. In the UK, the incidence of rubella infection has reduced dramatically since the introduction of the MMR vaccination programme. It falls under the TORCH group of infections.

Signs of congenital infection can appear or be identified after discharge from the nursery. Hearing impairment caused by congenital rubella or cytomegalovirus infection can be noticed by a parent at home. Depending on the gestational period when the mother contracts rubella , an infant born with CRS may be unaffected by the virus or it may have severe developmental defects. Congenital rubella occurs when the rubella virus in the mother affects the developing baby in the first months of pregnancy.

When pregnant women are infected with rubella virus, their babies also are expose which may result in serious complications. What is congenital rubella syndrome ? Only about – of pregnant women and infants in India receive the rubella vaccination. The rubivirus does the most damage to a developing fetus during the first trimester.

Babies who are born with congenital rubella syndrome may have severe birth defects.