How to recognize the symptoms of German measles

How to recognize the symptoms of German measles

Rubella, also known as German measles, is a minor illness usually found in children. These days, most people are vaccinated during childhood, but cases still occur.

Directions 

Recognizing the symptoms of the initial phase of rubella 

1 Check the temperature of the patient. Rubella usually starts with a slight fever. The temperature rarely goes above 100. You can confuse the disease like the common cold.

2 Feel gently around the patient's neck and behind the ears. Rubella also causes swollen lymph nodes and these areas are common pain areas.

3 ask the patient whether they suffer from swelling in the joints, headaches, runny nose or loss of appetite. These are minor symptoms which are known to occur in adults with rubella.

4 Look at the eyes of the patient. If they are swollen and red, the patient may suffer from conjunctivitis. This mild symptoms is rarely found in children but can be common in adult cases.

Recognizing the symptoms of late stage rubella 

5 Check the patient's face to a rash. The rash appears as pink or light red spots just beneath the skin.

6 Recognize the difference between other rashes and German measles. Chickenpox, for example, has blister-like wounds, which then scab over as German measles below the skin.

7 Wait a few days and see the changes in the eruption. The spots on the face should clarify first as the outbreak spreads. The rest of the rash should go away within 3 days.

8 Avoid scratching. German measles will itch a lot, but the less the patient's risks, the faster it will all be over. The itching is a sign that the skin is healing. An oatmeal bath can help relieve itching.

9 Expect dry skin as the healing of the rash. This is a good sign that the disease is ending, but it can be uncomfortable. The skin starts to flake. Use a mild cream to replace moisture in the skin.

Tips: 

• Most patients will undergo a German measles rash. In addition to the eruption, however, some people have additional symptoms at all. This is more common in children.
• German measles should last less than a week. No treatment is necessary and there is very little danger.
• If symptoms of rubella are found in a pregnant woman or someone who lives near a pregnant woman, a doctor should be contacted immediately. Rubella is a harmless disease most often, but can be fatal to an unborn child.
• Keep the patient at home. Measles is very contagious for as long as a week before the rash breaks and one week after the rash clears.

Rubella

Rubella

Also known as German measles , the rubella is a viral disease or very common infectious disease during childhood, but can also occur in unvaccinated adults who have never had the disease as children. Typically, infections by these viruses produce permanent immunity, ie, it occurs only once in a lifetime.

Transmitted through the respiratory tract, rubella is caused by a RNA virus called Togavirus . Rubella epidemics usually occur in cycles 06-10 years in winter and spring period, mainly reaching school children up to 9 years and adolescents after vaccination.

Symptoms

Red spots that appear on the face and behind the ear and then spread throughout the body. After infection it takes on average 18 days to have the first symptoms (incubation period) the symptoms are similar to the flu: headache and testicles; pain when swallowing; aching joints and muscles, dry skin, nasal congestion with sneezing, swollen lymph ganglia, low-grade fever (up to 38 ° C), neck, red spots that start on the face and evolve quickly by the body (usually disappear in less than 5 days ), redness or inflammation of the eyes (which is not dangerous).

The infection is usually benign and in half the cases do not produce any clinical manifestation. However, becomes dangerous when infection occurs during pregnancy (congenital rubella ie, transmitted from mother to fetus) because the virus invades the placenta and infects the embryo, usually in the first three

   
weeks of gestation in this case, rubella can cause abortion, fetal death, premature birth and congenital malformations such as visual problems (cataracts and glaucoma), deafness, congenital heart disease, microcephaly with mental retardation among others. From the 5th month of pregnancy, the risk of fetal injury is virtually nil.

Transmission

The infection occurs through the respiratory tract by direct contact with nasal secretions or air, through the suction droplets of saliva or nasal secretion.
The virus multiplies first and pharyngeal lymph organs. Then spreads through the blood and then manifests on the skin by means of reddish spots. The incubation period is two to three weeks, therefore symptoms are slow to be perceived.

Diagnosis

Because of its similarity to other viruses (common cold, measles, dengue, etc) the accurate diagnosis of rubella can only be obtained by serological examination.
Treatment

It is performed based on Antipyretics and analgesics that help lessen the discomfort, relieve headaches and body and lower fever. It is recommended that the patient rest during the critical period of the disease.

Prevention

To decrease the circulation of rubella virus, vaccination is very important, recommended at 15 months of age (MMR vaccine) and for all adults who have not had the disease (blocking vaccination). It is important to know that the child is born with rubella can spread the virus for up to one year. So they must be away from other children and pregnant women who have not had the disease.

       
The rubella vaccine, effective in almost 100% of cases, should be administered in children at 15 months of life. The vaccine comprises live attenuated virus and can be produced in monovalent form, associated with measles (double viral) or measles and mumps (MMR). The disease is not serious and male children do not need to be vaccinated, but often it occurs to prevent epidemics or avoid risk, as adults, infecting his pregnant companion unvaccinated.

Attention !

Pregnant women can not be vaccinated and vaccinated women should avoid pregnancy for one month after the date of vaccination. Thus, women who have not had the disease as children should be vaccinated before becoming pregnant. Patients with malignant disease, immune deficiency, treated with immunosuppressants, corticosteroids and chemotherapy can not be vaccinated.

Although it is believed that the effective control of this viral disease is possible, and even eradicate it with vaccination on a large scale, this disease as well as other viruses still represent a major public health aggravation in various parts of the world, especially in areas where combine precarious livelihoods and inadequate vaccination coverage.

What is rubella?

What is rubella?

 

Rubella, also known as German measles, is a contagious disease caused by virus and characterized by red skin rash.

Causes

Rubella is caused by viruses and Rubella virus is spread from person to person through sneezing, coughing and is highly contagious. A person with rubella can transmit the disease to other people from one week before the eruption until one to two weeks after their disappearance. That is, a person can transmit the disease even before knowing who has rubella.

The disease can also be congenital and can be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy yet.

Risk factors

• Have close contact with a person infected with rubella is a major risk factor for infection
• Do not take the MMR vaccine , which also acts against measles and mumps , can make a person vulnerable to the virus that causes rubella
• Newborns tend to be the age group most at risk, since they were not vaccinated against the disease. The adults, on the other hand, are not free of rubella only because they were vaccinated. It may happen that the vaccine lose effectiveness and fail to protect the person completely, so it is advisable to take a booster vaccine a few years after the first dose.

 

Symptoms of rubella

 

The main symptoms are usually mild rubella and difficult to be noticed, especially in children. When they arise, the signs of the disease usually takes two to three weeks after exposure to the virus to manifest and last for an average of two to three days. Chief among them is the emergence of red rashes from the skin, which first appear on the face and then go spreading around the trunk, arms and legs.Among other symptoms of rubella include:

• Mild fever
• Headache
• Nasal congestion
• Inflammation of the eyes (bloodshot)
• Appearance of lumps in the neck region and behind the ears
• General discomfort and feeling of malaise constant
• Muscle and joint pain 

• Seeking medical help

• Seek medical advice if you or your child present the typical symptoms of rubella.

  If you have plans to get pregnant, see a doctor to find out about the vaccine against rubella. Contracting the disease during the first trimester of pregnancycan cause serious risks to the baby's health and may even lead to malformation of organs and termination of pregnancy. Rubella during pregnancy is the main cause of deafness congenital.

  In the medical consultation

  Take all of your questions to the doctor and describe your symptoms in detail. This will help the doctor to diagnose correctly. Also answer questions that he might do to her. Some examples:

  • You and your child received the MMR vaccine?
  • When symptoms began?
  • You had contact with someone with rubella?
  • Is there any measure that you have taken that seems to have improved or worsened the symptoms?

  Diagnostic Rubella

  The skin rashes caused by rubella resemble any other rash caused by diseases similar, so not just a physical examination to confirm the diagnosis. The doctor then will ask for laboratory tests to make sure that it is a rubella infection.

  A nasal or throat swab can be sent for culture. It can also be made a blood test to check whether the person is protected against rubella. All women who could become pregnant should take this test. If the test is negative, they will receive the vaccine.

  Treatment Rubella

  There is no treatment available to stop the rubella infection, but the symptoms are so mild that treatment is not usually necessary. However, to avoid passing the virus to others that eventually were not vaccinated or are needed to take the reinforcement of the vaccine, patients should remain indoors during the high likelihood of transmission.

  If you are pregnant, talk to your doctor about the best way to fight infection and prevent the baby from being infected too. The measures taken against the virus can reduce the symptoms, but does not eliminate the possibility of the child being born with congenital rubella.

  Living / Prognosis

  Because treatment is often not necessary, portion sizes are enough for recovery.Some measures can help speed up the process, see:

  • Rest
  • Use of non-prescription medicines to relieve fever and discomfort caused by pain
  • Avoid going to work, school, college or attend social environments in order to prevent transmission of the virus to others

  Possible complications

  Although rubella is a mild disease considered, it can happen to progress to more serious complications such as otitis media and even encephalitis.

  Pregnant women may have arthritis in fingers, wrists or knees, which can last about a month.

  The consequences of rubella for a newborn who inherited her mother's illness, however, can be severe. Among them are:

  • Intellectual Disability
  • Cataract
  • Deafness
  • Congenital heart defects
  • Defects in the operation of some organs
  • Growth retardation

  Expectations

  Once you have been infected by the rubella virus, one is permanently immune to it, or may not have rubella again.

  Treatment for rubella is usually dispensed in view of the symptoms usually disappear by themselves.

  Prevention

  Vaccination is the safest and most effective way to prevent rubella. The rubella vaccine is recommended for all children. It is usually applied in infants 12-15 months, but sometimes it is administered before and during epidemics. A second vaccination (booster) is routinely applied in children between four and six years.The MMR is a combined vaccine that protects against measles, mumps and rubella.Already the MMRV vaccine also protects against chickenpox