- The disease is commonly known as German Measles (or three-day measles) and is symptomatically similar to measles.
- It can have devastating consequences if a pregnant mother is infected with it and the foetus may be born with incurable congenital anomalies.
- Symptoms of the infection can include cataracts and deafness.
- It can also affect the heart and the brain.
- The congenital rubella infection is believed to affect approximately 25,000 children born in India every year.
- Measles vaccine is currently provided under Universal Immunization Programme (UIP). However, rubella vaccine will be a new addition to it.
What is Measles?
Measles is a deadly disease and one of the important causes of death in children. It is highly contagious and spreads through coughing and sneezing of an infected person. It can make a child vulnerable to life threatening complications such as diarrhoea, pneumonia and brain infection.
What is Rubella?
Rubella is generally a mild infection, but has serious consequences if infection occurs in pregnant women, causing CRS, which is a cause of public health concern. CRS is characterized by congenital anomalies in the foetus and newborns affecting the eyes (cataract, glaucoma), ears (hearing loss), brain (mental retardation, microcephaly) and heart defects, causing a huge socio-economic burden on the families in particular and society in general.