measles rubella vaccine The rubella vaccine: everything you need to know

The rubella vaccine: everything you need to know
The rubella vaccine: everything you need to know


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We continue with the series of entries that we started a few months ago to talk about vaccines, one by one, and today it is the turn of one of those that is part of one of the most controversial vaccines: the rubella vaccine, which is part of of the triple virus, together with that of measles and mumps.

The rubella vaccine is currently administered at 12 months of age. A few years ago it used to start at 15 months, but since measles increased again due to decreases in vaccination coverage and several outbreaks appeared, it went ahead after 12 months to protect babies earlier.
It is a vaccine that requires a second dose of memory, which according to the AEP should be administered around 2-3 years, but in many centers is even up to 4 years (in my city is administered at this age).

The protection, as in many other vaccines, is not always for life, and some women should be vaccinated again in adulthood, because rubella is a disease that, of suffering during pregnancy, can cause an abortion or the so-called syndrome of congenital rubella, in which the baby suffers malformations and difficulties in development.What is rubella?
It is a disease caused by a virus, which spreads through the air or through direct contact. Symptoms are usually mild, with general malaise, headache and fever, and a rash similar to that seen with measles being common (in fact, rubella is also called German measles). Children have fewer symptoms than adults and tend to pass it in a mild way.

Explained this way it seems a virus even more harmless than the one of the varicella, and nevertheless there is vaccine for all. This is because it is more contagious (still), because the disease is transmitted from a week before the rash appears (a week before the person knows they have the disease and is catching it) until one or two weeks after the symptoms have disappeared.

By infecting for so long, and being such a dangerous disease in case of pregnancy, it is very important to prevent it so that there is no outbreak that puts adults and, especially, pregnant women at risk.

Being a virus, there is no treatment. The only thing that can be done to avoid it is to try to prevent its spread through universal vaccination, vaccinating all children and also vaccinating women of childbearing age who have lost immunity over the years.

Where is it administered?
Tetanus vaccine 2
When administered after 12 months, when babies are standing or even walking, it is advisable not to administer it in the leg, so that they do not complain when walking and do not limp. At that age it is placed on the arm, subcutaneously, usually in the triceps area. If the person who is going to receive it does not have problems of coagulation (children do not usually), it can also be administered intramuscularly, in the shoulder, in the deltoid muscle.

Side effects of rubella vaccine
The rubella vaccine, when accompanied by other vaccines, can produce side effects derived from rubella, but also from the vaccines that accompany it. The dose of rubella can cause pain and swelling in the joints. Measles and mumps can cause fever and mild rash. It is one of the vaccines that produces more fever, being a live attenuated virus vaccine.

Can you put it if you are allergic to the egg?
The triple virus is a vaccine that can contain, in its composition, traces of egg protein (used to create it). This makes many people with allergic children doubt whether or not they can vaccinate her, or even father of children who have not tried the egg, think twice.

The reality is that the quantity is so tiny, so low, that it is not considered important. All children can be given the vaccine except for those who have suffered a severe anaphylactic reaction when eating eggs.

I have heard that it could be related to autism
Since a false scientific article was leaked in a renowned scientific journal in 1998, the MMR vaccine was considered a possible cause of autism in children. The mentioned article was removed from the magazine and numerous studies have shown that there is no such relationship. However, the myth ran so much and was such a stir, that even today many people still believe that it is true.