Stop Rubella - Make Sure Every Child Gets the Rubella Vaccine
STOP RUBELLA – Make sure every child gets the rubella vaccine
Rubella is a viral infection that spreads in airborne droplets when people sneeze or cough. If a woman gets rubella while pregnant—especially in her first 3 months—serious consequences can result, including miscarriages, fetal deaths, still births, and congenital rubella syndrome (CRS). Rubella virus is an important cause of severe birth defects.
A woman infected with rubella during the first 3 months of pregnancy has up to a 90% chance of giving birth to a baby with congenital rubella syndrome. Or her baby may not survive.
Globally, there are more than 100,000 babies born with CRS. Congenital rubella syndrome leads to blindness, deafness, heart disease, and other birth defects.
5 in 10 babies in the world do not have access to a rubella vaccine.
Measles and rubella move fast. We have committed to move faster.
The number of countries using rubella vaccine is on the rise: 79 in 1996 to 152 by the end of 2016.
It costs less than $2.00 to vaccinate a child against both measles and rubella in low-income countries.
Thanks to vaccines, the number of rubella cases in the Americas has plummeted since 1996.
Even though cases of rubella have plummeted in the Americas, we still have much work to do globally. Stop rubella. Visit www.MeaslesRubellaInitiative.orgexternal icon.