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Rubella: R.Varidianto Yudo T., Dr.,Mkes

Rubella is caused by the rubella virus and is the causative agent of German measles. It normally causes a harmless childhood disease but can cause severe birth defects if a pregnant woman is infected during the first trimester. The rubella virus has an icosahedral capsid and envelope and replicates by producing new genomic RNA and a subgenomic fragment that codes for capsid proteins. In pregnant women, the virus can cross the placenta and infect the embryo, potentially causing defects like deafness, heart problems, or microcephaly. Diagnosis is usually done through serology and detection of IgM antibodies. Vaccination, especially of children before puberty, is the primary prevention strategy.

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27 views11 pages

Rubella: R.Varidianto Yudo T., Dr.,Mkes

Rubella is caused by the rubella virus and is the causative agent of German measles. It normally causes a harmless childhood disease but can cause severe birth defects if a pregnant woman is infected during the first trimester. The rubella virus has an icosahedral capsid and envelope and replicates by producing new genomic RNA and a subgenomic fragment that codes for capsid proteins. In pregnant women, the virus can cross the placenta and infect the embryo, potentially causing defects like deafness, heart problems, or microcephaly. Diagnosis is usually done through serology and detection of IgM antibodies. Vaccination, especially of children before puberty, is the primary prevention strategy.

Uploaded by

Erick Djuanda
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Rubella

R.Varidianto Yudo T., dr.,MKes.


Lab. Mikrobiologi
Fakultas Kedokteran Universitas Hang Tuah
• Rubella virus, Genus Rubivirus, Family Togavirus
(Togaviridae)
• The the causative agent in German measles.
• This normally harmless childhood disease
• Can cause severe embryopathies during the first
trimester of pregnancy.
Morphology / Characteristic
• Togaviruses possess an icosahedral capsid and a
closefitting envelope.
• The capsid measures 35–40 nm and the entire virion
60–65 nm.
• The genome of the togaviruses is a single- stranded,
polyadenylated, positive sense RNA.
• Replication not only produces new 40S genomic
RNA, but a subgenomic 26S RNA fragment as well,
which codes for the capsid proteins.
• Viral progeny are released by budding at the cell
surface.
Pathogenesis
• “German measles” is a harmless exanthemous infection
in children and youths, caused by a rubivirus, the rubella
virus, and transmitted by direct contact.
• The infections remain inapparent in nearly half the cases.
• The virus at first replicates in lymphoid organs at the
portal of entry and in the nasopharyngeal space, after
which a viremia develops before the exanthem
manifests.
• In pregnant women, the virus takes this route through
the placenta to the embryo, where it can cause
congenital deformities or embryonic death, especially in
the first three months of pregnancy.
• The organs in the developmental stage in this
trimester are most seriously affected by the rubella
infection.
• The most frequent congenital deformities are
deafness, cataracts, cardiac defects, microcephaly,
and spina bifida.
• In intrauterine embryo deaths due to rubella
infections the immediate cause of death is usually
myocardial damage.
• A measles infection confirmed by IgM detection or a
raised antibody count is therefore an indication for a
first-trimester abortion.
Laboratory Diagnosis
• Serodiagnosis is the method of choice in suspected
alphavirus and rubivirus infections.
• EIA methods are also available for IgM detection.
Prevention
• There are vaccines to protect against alphavirus
infections and rubella.
• The main aim of rubella prophylaxis is to prevent
rubella-caused embryopathies.
• Since 10–15% of young adults are still susceptible to
rubella infections and a live vaccine with few side
effects that confers reliable immunity is available,
serial vaccination of children (boys and girls!) is done
before puberty.
• The vaccine is tolerated so well that prior immune
status checks are not required.

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