- Main symptoms
- How to confirm the diagnosis
- Possible consequences of rubella
- How to tell if your baby has been affected
- How the treatment is done
Rubella is a relatively common disease in childhood that, when it occurs in pregnancy, can cause malformations in the baby such as microcephaly, deafness or changes in the eyes. Thus, the ideal is for the woman to get the vaccine against the disease before becoming pregnant.
The rubella vaccine is usually taken in childhood, but women who do not get the vaccine or its booster dose should be vaccinated before becoming pregnant. After taking the vaccine the woman must wait at least 1 month to start trying to conceive. Learn more about the rubella vaccine.
Rubella is an infectious disease caused by the Rubivirus type virus , which is usually transmitted through secretions such as saliva, in intimate contacts and kisses. Usually children and young adults are the most infected, which increases the chances of acquiring the disease during pregnancy.
Main symptoms
Rubella symptoms in pregnancy are similar to those shown by anyone who develops the disease:
- Headache; Muscle pain; Low fever up to 38ºC; Cough with phlegm; Pain in the joints; Swollen lymph or ganglia, especially near the neck; Small red spots on the face that later spread throughout the body and last for about 3 days.
Symptoms can take up to 21 days to appear, but transmission of the virus can happen 7 days before the onset of symptoms up to 7 days after the appearance of red spots on the skin.
How to confirm the diagnosis
In some cases, rubella may have no symptoms and, therefore, its diagnosis can only be confirmed through the presence of IgM or IgG immunoglobulins in the blood test.
Possible consequences of rubella
The consequences of rubella in pregnancy are related to congenital rubella, which can lead to abortion or serious fetal malformations such as:
- Deafness; Eye changes such as blindness, cataracts, microphthalmia, glaucoma and retinopathy; Heart problems such as pulmonary artery stenosis, ventricular septal defect, myocarditisNervous system injuries such as chronic meningitis, vasculitis with calcification Mental retardation; Microcephaly; Purpura; Hemolytic anemia; Meningoencephalitis; Liver problems such as fibrosis and transformation of giant liver cells.
These changes can happen when a woman has rubella during pregnancy or when she gets the rubella vaccine during pregnancy. The risk of rubella transmission to the baby is greater in the first trimester of pregnancy and if this happens the baby must be born with congenital rubella. Learn all about congenital rubella.
Major complications are seen when the baby is affected in the first trimester of pregnancy. Fetal changes are usually seen in exams performed during pregnancy and shortly after birth, but some changes can only be diagnosed in the first 4 years of a child's life. Some of these manifestations that can be discovered later are Diabetes, panencephalitis and autism.
See in a simple way what is microcephaly and how to take care of a baby with this problem by watching the following video:
How to tell if your baby has been affected
To find out if the baby was affected by the rubella virus when its mother was infected during pregnancy or if the mother received the rubella vaccine during pregnancy, prenatal care and all the necessary tests to assess the development of baby's organs and tissues.
Morphological ultrasound, usually performed between 18 and 22 weeks of gestation, can indicate whether there is cardiac malformation or brain damage, however, some changes can only be seen after birth, such as deafness, for example.
The diagnosis of congenital rubella can be made through a blood test that identifies positive IgM antibodies to rubivirus up to 1 year after birth. This change can be observed only after 1 month of birth and therefore, in case of suspicion, the exam should be repeated after this date.
How the treatment is done
Rubella treatment in pregnancy consists of controlling the symptoms that the woman feels because there is no specific treatment that can cure rubella. Usually, treatment is done with medicines to control fever and pain relievers, such as paracetamol, associated with rest and fluid intake by the pregnant woman.
The best form of prevention is to have a triple-viral vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella at least 1 month before becoming pregnant. You should also avoid being around people who are transmitting the disease or children infected with rubella.
