Rubella: Treatment, Procedure, Cost and Side Effects

Rubella or German measles is an infection in women that crops up during the first 8 to 10 weeks of pregnancy. It is basically determined by the sudden growth of red rashes all over the body and in most cases results in complete damage or death of the foetus growing inside. The worst part of this disease is its communicable nature. The infection gets easily spread with contact to affected persons sneezing and coughing experience. The infection quickly spreads if you mistakenly end up touching your nose or mouth and even eyes with hands having droplets of the infected person. A pregnant lady inhibiting rubella spreads the infection in the child that results in multiple inborn defects of the child. Common examples of blindness, deafness, heart and brain damage issues in the newborn child are gradually becoming prominent.

However, the introduction of rubella vaccine in the 1960s has successfully diminished the rate of rubella infection in pregnant women. This infection also affects children within 5 to 9 years. In case of children, it goes away even without medication while it turns risky in case of pregnant women. Well, rubella is difficult to notice. Some of the common symptoms that indicate the presence of rubella include red or pink rashes to start within the face and tend to slope downwards throughout the body, constant mild fever, severe muscle pain, red and inflamed eyes, headache, stuffy nose and swollen lymph nodes. Rubella syndrome in pregnant women turns dangerous and should be treated beforehand with rubella vaccine in order to avoid severe complications in pregnancy and the newborn child.

Rubella is a viral infection that is characterized by an appearance of rashes on the face, followed by the development all over the body of the person. It is a highly contagious infection that starts spreading up to one week before the appearance of rashes and continues to be infectious till one week after it. In almost half of the cases of Rubella, the infected person remains asymptomatic, while able to transmit the infection to others. A pregnant woman who is infected can also transmit the disease to her developing baby.

Rubella has not been known for causing infertility so far, though it causes the development of other symptoms in an individual. The appearance of red rashes starting from the face distributing all over the body is the main symptom which is associated with fever, tender, and swollen lymph nodes, muscle pain, inflamed eyes, running nose, etc.

Basically, symptoms of rubella get recognised after few days. A person experiencing any such unusual pink and red skin rashes and other familiar symptoms of rubella, consulting a doctor is the best option. Often people are of the view that it gets recovered without any treatment too. However, medication is required in order to kill the infection in the blood that would avoid any further complication later in life.

The doctor would ask you to get a blood test done to confirm the presence of rubella virus in the blood. The requirement of the test is to confirm and check if the patient holds enough immunity to fight the infection. The person suffering from rubella experiences discomfort and aches until the virus in the blood is killed. Added to that, a low fever temperature prevails. The person is not allowed to step out of the home to worsen the condition and also spread the infection to other people. Generally, a doctor prescribes medicines to provide relief from the discomfort.

However, in most cases, antibodies are prescribed by the doctor to pregnant ladies. The task of the antibiotics is to reduce the symptoms whereas rubella in pregnant ladies includes huge risk for the growing child, once affected can severely harm the foetus. No doubt the best option is to get a rubella vaccine.

Rubella, also known as German measles, is a viral infection that is communicable. In this condition, the whole body is affected. It starts with rashes formation on the face, followed by its spread all over the body. Besides this, fever and swollen lymph nodes also occur that are associated with headache, muscle pain, inflamed eyes, and running nose.

Vaccination is a method of prevention of any disease in an individual by the formation of antibodies against the disease in his body. The same concept applies in the case of Rubella, where the MMR vaccine plays a role. There may be one dose or two doses of the vaccine which provide immunity against the disease for a lifetime. But in some cases, one may get infected with the Rubella virus when exposed to it even after the two complete doses of the vaccine.

Children or pregnant ladies experiencing symptoms of rubella are eligible for the treatment.

People who are not infected by rubella virus do not need to undergo this treatment.

The treatment involves medication that treats patients with side effects like nausea, sudden loss of appetite, itching, pain in the upper stomach pain, dark urine and even jaundice. In case you face any such side effects while undergoing treatment, you are advised to stop taking those medicines at once and opt for a doctor consultation.

After receiving the treatment, the person is supposed to follow few post-treatment guidelines in order to attain complete recovery. The person is advised to have a strict diet that would include plenty of vegetables, healthy oils and food rich in vitamins and antioxidants. Food items like coffee, cheese, eggs, milk, cakes, cookies and processed food should be avoided. Moreover, bed rest, plenty of water, towel dipped in warm water to treat the swollen glands and calamine lotion are tips to maintain post the treatment process.

The red and pink rashes disappear within 3 days. But the swollen nodes and joint pain may take around 2 weeks to recover. Generally, it takes 1week to recover for children and more in case of adults.

Treatment cost of rubella syndrome includes doctor consultation fees and medical expenses. Whereas, rubella vaccine is available at a very low cost of around 100 INR.

Results of the treatment of rubella syndrome are mostly permanent. The situation attains recovery within 1 or 2 weeks while situation gets worse in case of rubella infection in pregnant ladies.

Besides medicines, some of the natural elements have shocking effects in treating rubella infection. Doctors tend to advise the intake of more vegetables and less meat in the diet. Use of Aloe Vera in the rashes restricts the spread of infection. At the same time, Echinacea and Astragalus help in stimulating the immunity power of the body and fight against the infection in the blood. Use of turmeric and winter cherry turns extremely efficient in treating rubella.

Summary: Rubella is a viral infection that is characterized by an appearance of rashes on the face, followed by the development all over the body of the person. It is a highly contagious infection that starts spreading up to one week before the appearance of rashes and continues to be infectious till one week after it. The arrival of the vaccine for Rubella changed the scenario and Rubella infections have started to decline at a mass scale.