Rubella Symptoms Causative agent Incubation period
Rubella or German measles or three day measles is an acute viral childhood infection, usually mild, lasting for 3 days so called three day measle.and is accompanied by low grade fever and rash. Infection in early pregnancy may cause abnormalities or even death of the foetus. The disease may occur in non-immunized populations.
Causative Agent:
The disease is caused by an RNA virus of the togavirus family. Only one antigenic type of virus seems to exist. The virus has been recovered from naso-pharynx, throat, blood, CSF, and urine. The virus is transmitted directly from person to person by droplets from nose and throat, and droplet nuclel in the form of aerosols.
Incubation period
The incubation period is 2 to 3 weeks; with an average of 18 days. A large number of infections to the extent of 50 to 65 % are asymptomatic.
Symptoms
In a typical case following clinical features are observed: Prodromal, lymphadenopathy, rash and complications are observed in few cases. During prodromal stage, sore throat and low grade fever are observed. The symptoms are generally mild, insignificant and less frequent. In the next stage, enlargement of few lymph glands may be observed in susceptible individuals as early as 7 days before appearance of rash and may continue for 10 to 14 days after the rash. The rash is the first indication of the disease in children. It appears first on the face, usually within 24 hours of the onset of prodromal symptoms. It is a minute, discrete, pinkish, macular rash. Conjunctivitis may occur. The rash spreads rapidly to the trunk and extremities. It is not apparent on the face. The rash spreads much faster and clears rapidly than that of measles. It disappears by the third day. It is absent in sub-clinical cases. In 25% of the cases, rash may not be observed. In few cases there are few complications. In arthralgia pain in several joints may be observed in adults, especially in women. Occasionally congenital malformations may be observed in case if rubella is experienced by a pregnant mother.
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