Rubella - Symptoms
The first sign of rubella is a fine red rash on the face. The rash spreads across the whole body within twenty-four hours and lasts about three days. Because of this fact, rubella is sometimes called the three-day measles (see measles entry).
Other symptoms include swollen glands and a low fever. There may also be pain or swelling in the joints. Interestingly, some patients show no symptoms of the disease at all. Symptoms usually disappear after about three days. Some joint pain may remain for a week or two. Most people recover with no complications.
- Antibody:
- A chemical produced by the body's immune system to fight off infections.
- Incubation period:
- The time it takes for symptoms of a disease to appear after a person has been infected.
- Miscarriage:
- When a human fetus is expelled from the mother before it can survive outside of the womb.
- MMR vaccine:
- A vaccine that contains separate vaccines against three diseases: measles, mumps, and rubella.
- Trimester:
- Three months. Often used to refer to one third of a woman's pregnancy.
- Vaccine:
- a substance that causes the body's immune system to build up resistance to a particular disease.
The one exception is pregnant women. If these women get rubella during the first three months of pregnancy, the health of their fetus is threatened. Birth defects occur in about half of all women who get rubella in the first month of pregnancy. The rate of birth defects drops to 20 percent in the second month and 10 percent in the third month.
Some birth defects caused by rubella include:
- Eye defects, such as cataracts (see cataract entry), glaucoma (see glaucoma entry), and blindness
- Deafness
- Heart defects
- Mental retardation (see mental retardation entry)
The risk of birth defects drops dramatically after the first trimester. After the twentieth week of pregnancy, there are rarely any complications caused by rubella.
Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: