Rubella - All About Treatment, Epidemiology & Prognosis
Rubella is a mild disease which occurs as the result of single stranded RNA togavirus. The word rubella should not be confused with rubeola, which is nothing, but an alternative name given to general measles in English speaking countries.
The disease is quite common in infants, children, as well as the adults. Infants are infected through their mother, while in the case of adults and children, rubella is spread through droplet infections from coughing and sneezing. Children recover from the rubella disease at a faster rate than the adults do. Rubella rarely leads to any kind of serious complications, and is considered as the infection having lighter symptoms and affect on the body processes.
Togavirus is rapidly eliminated in the adults, but it may stay for around some months post partum in the infants who survive CRS. Rubella can be treated and prevented. The susceptibility to rubella virus attack is inherited, and HLA-A1 or factors surrounding A1 on extended haplotypes are the prime reasons that eventually cause infection or non-resolution of the disease.
IgM antibodies, specific to rubella are present in the person who's recently infected by the virus. However, these antibodies remain in the bloodstream for a year. Therefore, it is necessary to check the blood sample of the infected person to get the idea about whether antibodies exist or not.
MMR vaccine is the best prevention method. Rubella virus can thus be prevented by active immunization process through the use of live and disabled virus vaccines. The disease, in adults, can be prevented by two live attenuated virus vaccines, RA 27/3 and Cendehill strains. However, RA 27/3 and Cendehill strains in
prepubertile females in UK did not show any reduction of the CRS rate. Reductions were only seen in case of immunization of children. Today, RA 27/3 and Cendehill strains are administered as the part of MMR vaccine. As per world health organization (WHO) norms first dose should be administered at the age between 12 to 18 months, while second dose should be administered at 36 months of the age.
Pregnant women are susceptible to the virus, and therefore, are not vaccinated until they give birth. Rubella has no specific treatment, but proper management and rehabilitation is necessary. Infants suffering from rubella are born with congenital heart defects and cataracts. These defects can be treated and corrected through surgery. In case anyone suffers from ocular CRS, proper care and management becomes the necessary course of treatment. Ocular CRS management is similar to management of age-related macular degeneration. Besides, management of ocular CRS, counseling, regular monitoring, and use for low vision devices can also be considered.
Infections caused as the result of rubella seem to be mild, self-limiting, and asymptomatic, in case of the children and adults. Rubella is a world wide disease which has affected millions, but there's nothing to worry about the disease, as there are effective treatment opportunities which include natural remedies to cure the disease.
