Rubella -Symptoms Of The Disease
Rubella, caused due to rubella virus is a common disease seen in both adults as well as children. In infants, the disease is spread through mother's womb. The symptoms of rubella appear on the skin in the form of reddish marks, but again that is the advanced stage of the disease. Generally, symptoms of the disease appear after the incubation period of 14-21 days is over.
Initials symptoms of German measles seem to appear similar in nature to influenza. The key symptoms of the disease are visible in the form of rash (exanthem). The rashes, first appear over the face, and then gradually spread trunk, torso, and the limbs, before disappearing at the end of third or fourth day. German measles are alternatively known as three day measles. The visible facial rash gradually disappears with time, as the rashes begin to spread on rest of the body parts.
Other prominent symptoms of German measles include, low fever, swollen glands (sub occipital & posterior cervical lymphadenopathy), pain in the joints, headache and conjunctivitis. The swollen lymph nodes and glands are visible for around a week or so, and the maximum body temperature is around 100.4 F. The rash visible in German measles are typically red or pink in color. It causes itching and is visible for a period of three days. After the rash is gone, the skin starts appearing to shed off in the form of small flakes, from the places where the rash had covered the skin surface.
In as many as 20% of the cases, Forchheimer's signs occur, which are characterized by small, red papules localized in the soft palate region. Rubella disease can infect anybody, though it is rarely seen in the infants and adults belonging to age group of 40 and above. To be precise, rubella is a mild viral disease, and it has no lethal significance of any sort. Rubella has stronger symptoms in the case of older individuals. Statistics also show that around one-third of older girls or women suffering from rubella show pain in the hips and symptoms similar to arthritis.
When the patient is in the incubation period, the susceptibility to contracting the disease by a healthy person is great, and this susceptibility period extends to approximately 1-week, after which rashes appear and they remain for another 1-week.
The principal cause of rubella is rubella virus which is single-stranded RNA togavirus. The virus replicates in the nasopharynx and lymphnodes, and is found in the blood stream of infected people 5to 7 days after the infection. The tetratogenic properties of the virus allow it to travel through the placenta and infect the growing fetus.
Rubella is not a severe lethal disease, and if proper rehabilitation measures are taken, one can be easily cured. The development of triple antigen vaccine, namely, measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) is quite effective in controlling the spread of disease. The triple antigen was introduced in the market in 1970s. Children should be injected with the triple antigen in order to prevent occurrence of the disease.
