Rubella is a relatively common childhood disease that, when it appears during pregnancy, can cause malformations in the baby such as microcephaly, deafness or changes in the eyes. Therefore, ideally, women should take the vaccine against the disease before becoming pregnant.
The rubella vaccine is normally taken in childhood, but women who do not receive the vaccine or its booster dose must be vaccinated before becoming pregnant. After taking the vaccine, a woman must wait at least 1 month to start trying to get pregnant.
It is important that the woman undergoes prenatal care according to the doctor’s instructions, as this way it is possible to check whether she has immunity against rubella or whether she is infected, in addition to being able to check the baby’s health.
Main symptoms
The main symptoms of rubella during pregnancy are:
- Headache;
- Muscle pain;
- Low fever up to 38ºC;
- Loss of appetite;
- Nasal congestion;
- Joint pain;
- Swollen glands or tongues, especially near the neck;
- Small red spots on the face that then spread throughout the body and last for about 3 days.
Symptoms can take up to 23 days to appear, but transmission of the virus can occur from 7 days before symptoms appear to 7 days after the red spots appear on the skin.
As soon as signs and symptoms possibly indicative of rubella are noticed, it is important that the woman consults the gynecologist so that tests can be carried out to find out if there is infection with the rubella virus and, thus, it will be possible to carry out adequate follow-up to prevent complications for the woman. and for the baby.
How to identify rubella during pregnancy
To identify rubella during pregnancy, it is recommended that women undergo blood tests that identify the presence of antibodies against the rubella virus, such as the rubella IgG test and IgM measurement, which allows us to know not only whether the person is infected or if you are immunized.
This test is part of the tests recommended during prenatal care, however it is also possible to carry out this test if signs and symptoms of rubella appear during pregnancy. See more about the IgG test for rubella.
In some cases, the doctor may also recommend carrying out the RT-PCR test to detect the virus from a sample of nasal or throat secretion, as well as a urine and blood test.
Possible consequences of rubella
The consequences of rubella can arise when the disease is not identified as soon as the first symptoms appear and monitoring is not carried out according to the doctor’s recommendation.
The risk of transmitting rubella to the baby is greater in the first trimester of pregnancy and if this happens, the baby will be born with congenital rubella and may present some changes, such as:
- Deafness;
- Changes in the eyes such as blindness, cataracts, microphthalmia, glaucoma and retinopathy;
- Heart problems such as pulmonary artery stenosis, ventricular septal defect, myocarditis
- Nervous system injuries such as chronic meningitis, vasculitis with calcification
- Mental retardation;
- Microcephaly;
- Hemolytic anemia;
- Meningoencephalitis;
- Liver problems such as fibrosis and hepatic giant cell transformation.
Fetal changes can be observed in exams carried out during pregnancy and immediately after birth, through morphological ultrasound carried out between the 18th and 22nd week of pregnancy.
However, some changes are only diagnosed after the baby is born or as the baby grows. In addition, to confirm infection with the rubella virus, a blood test may also be performed on the baby to check for the presence of antibodies against rubella.
How the treatment is carried out
The treatment of rubella during pregnancy consists of controlling the symptoms that the woman feels because there is no specific treatment that can cure rubella. Treatment is usually carried out with medicines to control fever and painkillers, such as paracetamol, associated with rest and fluid intake by the pregnant woman.
Rubella prevention during pregnancy
The best form of prevention is to have the triple viral vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella at least 1 month before becoming pregnant, as the vaccine is contraindicated during pregnancy. However, this vaccine can be applied during breastfeeding, as it has no effect on breast milk, preventing future contagion. See more about the MMR vaccine.
