For many of us, rubella has simply come to mean the R in MMR, the routine childhood measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine. But that hasn’t always been the case. There was once a time when the rubella virus routinely made front page news and was at the center of countless legal discussions. This week, we explore everything you’ve ever wanted to know about this virus. We start off by asking what this virus does to your body and how it can cross the placenta, leading to congenital rubella syndrome. Then we journey through the short but impactful history of this disease, from the discovery of the effects the virus can have on a developing fetus to the widespread epidemics that spurred on the development of a vaccine. Finally we wrap up with some much-needed good news about the global decline of rubella and congenital rubella syndrome.
| History | Biology |
| Reagan, Leslie J. Dangerous pregnancies: Mothers, disabilities, and abortion in modern America. Univ of California Press, 2012. | Banatvala, J. E., & Brown, D. W. (2004). Rubella. The Lancet, 363(9415), 1127-1137. |
| Banatvala, Jangu, and Catherine Peckham, eds. Rubella viruses. Elsevier, 2006. | Lambert, N., Strebel, P., Orenstein, W., Icenogle, J., & Poland, G. A. (2015). Rubella. The Lancet, 385(9984), 2297-2307. |
| Bennett, Andrew J., et al. “Relatives of rubella virus in diverse mammals.” Nature 586.7829 (2020): 424-428. | Duszak, R. S. (2009). Congenital rubella syndrome—major review. Optometry-Journal of the American Optometric Association, 80(1), 36-43. |
| Cooper, Louis Z. “The history and medical consequences of rubella.” Clinical Infectious Diseases 7.Supplement_1 (1985): S2-S10. | Reef, S.E., Plotkin, S.A. “Chapter 29: Rubella” in Remington and Klein’s Infectious Diseases of the Fetus and Newborn Infant . 8th ed. (Wilson, Christopher B. , ed) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Elsevier Saunders, 2017. Print. |
| Forbes, John A. “Rubella: historical aspects.” American Journal of Diseases of Children 118.1 (1969): 5-11. | Reef, S. E., Plotkin, S., Cordero, J. F., Katz, M., Cooper, L., Schwartz, B., Zimmerman-Swain, L., Danovaro-Holliday, M. C., & Wharton, M. (2000). Preparing for elimination of congenital Rubella syndrome (CRS): summary of a workshop on CRS elimination in the United States. Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 31(1), 85–95. https://doi-org.proxy.cc.uic.edu/10.1086/313928 |
| Hilleman, Maurice R. “Vaccines in historic evolution and perspective: a narrative of vaccine discoveries.” Vaccine 18.15 (2000): 1436-1447. | WHO. (2019) “Global Vaccine Action Plan 2019 regional reports on progress” https://www.who.int/immunization/sage/meetings/2019/october/5_GVAP_2019_Regional_reports_YB.PDF Annex to the GVAP review and lessons learned report. |
| Katow, Shigetaka. “Molecular epidemiology of rubella virus in Asia: utility for reduction in the burden of diseases due to congenital rubella syndrome.” Pediatrics international 46.2 (2004): 207-213. | Grant, G. B., Desai, S., Dumolard, L., Kretsinger, K., & Reef, S. E. (2019). Progress toward Rubella and Congenital Rubella Syndrome control and elimination—worldwide, 2000–2018. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 68(39), 855. |
| Lambert, Nathaniel, et al. “Rubella.” The Lancet 385.9984 (2015): 2297-2307. | |
| Plotkin, Stanley A. “The history of rubella and rubella vaccination leading to elimination.” Clinical Infectious Diseases 43.Supplement_3 (2006): S164-S168. | |
| Wolfe, Nathan D., Claire Panosian Dunavan, and Jared Diamond. “Origins of major human infectious diseases.” Nature 447.7142 (2007): 279-283. | |
| https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/podcast/roe-v-wade-v-rubella |
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