RUBELLA ANTIBODY, IGG

LAB496

GERMAN MEASLES

7 mL Red Top Tube
 

2.0 mL

Refrigerate specimen

Set Up:Tuesday and Thursday; Report Available:1 day

Positive (Immune)

Rubella (German measles) is a mild, contagious viral disease that occurs primarily in children and young adults. It is characterized by a diffuse punctate and maculopapular rash sometimes resembling that of measles or scarlet fever, lasting 2 or 3 days.  Other symptoms may include low-grade fever, mild upper respiratory symptoms and suboccipital lymphadenopathy. Adults may experience a 1-5 day prodrome of low-grade fever, headache, malaise, mild coryza and conjunctivitis.    Rubella is important because of its ability to produce anomalies in the developing fetus.  Congenital rubella syndrome occurs in >25% of infants born to women who acquired rubella during the first trimester of pregnancy; the risk of a single congenital defect falls to approximately 10-20% by the 16th week and defects are rare when the maternal infection occurs after the 20th week of pregnancy.  Congenital heart disease, cataracts, neurosensory deafness, mental retardation and intrauterine growth retardation characterize congenital rubella syndrome.   Extensive vaccination programs in the US and United Kingdom has greatly reduced the incidence of congenital rubella syndrome. The presence of circulating maternal antibody indicates immunity to rubella and virtually excludes the possibility of transmission of rubella to the fetus.  Contact with nasopharyngeal secretions of infected persons is the most common mode of transmission. Infants with congenital rubella shed large quantities of virus in their pharyngeal secretions and in urine, and serve as a source of infection to their contacts.