Rubella in children: photos, symptoms and treatment, prevention
This disease is attributed to childhood infections. It is an acute viral disease, manifestations of which is a small-spleen rash, a slight intoxication syndrome and mild inflammation of the upper respiratory tract.
If a person is sick with rubella in childhood, it does not pose a particular danger to his health. But when a pregnant woman falls ill, this can result in serious consequences for the fetus.
Currently, rubella is attributed to controlled infections, which means that a vaccine is available to prevent it, which is included in the vaccination schedule in most countries.
Because the disease causes a virus, it is characterized by the wavy nature of outbreaks of infection. The cycle of this disease is from eight to twelve years. This means that after a specified period of time there is an increase in cases of infection with an infection, the number of which can exceed 2% of the total population of the state, after which there is a sharp decline in the level of threat and rubella manifests itself as rare single incidents.
In this article we will consider rubella in children: symptoms, treatment, as well as prevention and photo of the initial stage, which can diagnose the disease.
The virus that causes the infection in children is called Rubella virus. It belongs to Togaviridae( the Togaviridae family).The name is due to the peculiarities of the structure. Toga translates as a cloak, and indicates that the RNA molecule of the virus is covered with a double membrane equipped with thorns.
Despite this, in the external environment, the rubella pathogen feels insecure and dies after room hours at room temperature. Acceleration of this process is facilitated by a change in the acid-alkaline environment, temperature fluctuation, exposure to ultraviolet radiation, formalin, ether and disinfectants.
In the high-risk zone, there are previously not infected rubella adults, and children not vaccinated from it in the age range of two to nine years. The disease is subject to seasonality, often occurs in winter and spring. People who have had an infection develop immunity.
Infection is transmitted from infected with a typical or erased course of the disease. The source of infection can be babies up to three years old, in which rubella is congenital. The danger is presented by the patient one week before the onset of the rash, during the period of the presence of all clinical manifestations of the ailment and within seven days after they have disappeared.
Infection can occur when a person with rubella sneezes, coughs, cries, talks or exhales sharply. It's an airborne way of penetrating the infection. A transplacental way of transmitting a disease is possible, when the pregnant woman is the source of the virus in relation to the fetus.
In adults and children, the specificity of rubella symptoms depends on the stage at which it is located. Rubella has several of them:
Read also: what looks like, the symptoms and treatment of chickenpox with photos, the initial stage.
Getting into the fetus through the placenta, the virus causes significant harm to the health of the child, leads to disruption of intrauterine development. The level of damage does not depend on the severity of rubella in the mother. Even if a woman does not feel any negative changes in her condition related to the infection, this does not mean that the virus did not affect the child in any way. It can lead to miscarriage, stopping fetal development or stillbirth.
Other types of effects of the disease on the embryo are possible, in which deformations are exposed to its organs and systems. There is a regularity, according to which the consequences are more severe than at the earlier term of pregnancy a woman is ill.
With increasing duration of pregnancy, the probability of congenital malformations decreases. If infection occurred in the second trimester of pregnancy, most often pathologies concern the organs of hearing. Later infection can result in lesions of the central nervous system, which can not always be diagnosed immediately after birth. They manifest later convulsions, mental illness and mental retardation. Congenital rubella is manifested in the presence of symptoms, called the triad of Gregg. They include cataracts, heart defects and deafness.
See also, symptoms of measles and mumps treatment.
For adults and children, there is no specific therapy, the action of which would be directed at rubella. The treatment is symptomatic, and in the absence of complications it is performed at home.
The patient is assigned a bed rest period, which lasts from three to seven days, provides a full-fledged diet suitable for age, and abundant drink to speed up detoxification.
In adults, for control of the pathogen, virocides can be used, and also resort to the help of immunomodulators and immunostimulants.
Given the risks, infected pregnant women staying for a period not exceeding 28 weeks, are sent for abortion. If the performance of termination of pregnancy for some indication is impossible or prolonged gestation is longer than the specified period, immunoglobulin injections and other preventive measures are recommended to maximize the protection of the child and preserve the pregnancy.
To prevent the spread of the virus, if a rash is found on the patient's body, it is isolated for a week, and those who come into contact with the infected for 21 days. If a woman in contact with an infected person during pregnancy, a check is made to have her immunity by serological tests, which are repeated after 5 weeks.
Vaccination is a specific preventive measure. It is performed at one-year-old age and repeated at six years. Usually, live combined trivaccine MMR, directed against such diseases as rubella, measles and mumps, is used for this purpose. Girls who were not vaccinated at an earlier age are appointed at 14 years of age.
To develop antibodies to the rubella virus there is also a monovaccine - Rudivax. It is recommended to women without acquired immunity planning pregnancy. But it should be administered no later than three months before the alleged conception.
Read also, inoculation: measles, rubella, mumps - when to do, reaction, complications.
In addition to the above cases of arthropathy( soreness of the joints) and the harmful effects of the virus on the developing intra-uterine organism, the clinical picture can be exacerbated by the appearance of new diseases, the origins of which are hidden in rubella.
Against the background of the main disease, chronic infections can worsen, the expansion of the infection zone leads to otitis, encephalitis and pneumonia.
If a person is sick with rubella in childhood, it does not pose a particular danger to his health. But when a pregnant woman falls ill, this can result in serious consequences for the fetus.
Currently, rubella is attributed to controlled infections, which means that a vaccine is available to prevent it, which is included in the vaccination schedule in most countries.
Because the disease causes a virus, it is characterized by the wavy nature of outbreaks of infection. The cycle of this disease is from eight to twelve years. This means that after a specified period of time there is an increase in cases of infection with an infection, the number of which can exceed 2% of the total population of the state, after which there is a sharp decline in the level of threat and rubella manifests itself as rare single incidents.
In this article we will consider rubella in children: symptoms, treatment, as well as prevention and photo of the initial stage, which can diagnose the disease.
Pathogen
The virus that causes the infection in children is called Rubella virus. It belongs to Togaviridae( the Togaviridae family).The name is due to the peculiarities of the structure. Toga translates as a cloak, and indicates that the RNA molecule of the virus is covered with a double membrane equipped with thorns.
Despite this, in the external environment, the rubella pathogen feels insecure and dies after room hours at room temperature. Acceleration of this process is facilitated by a change in the acid-alkaline environment, temperature fluctuation, exposure to ultraviolet radiation, formalin, ether and disinfectants.
In the high-risk zone, there are previously not infected rubella adults, and children not vaccinated from it in the age range of two to nine years. The disease is subject to seasonality, often occurs in winter and spring. People who have had an infection develop immunity.
Infection is transmitted from infected with a typical or erased course of the disease. The source of infection can be babies up to three years old, in which rubella is congenital. The danger is presented by the patient one week before the onset of the rash, during the period of the presence of all clinical manifestations of the ailment and within seven days after they have disappeared.
Infection can occur when a person with rubella sneezes, coughs, cries, talks or exhales sharply. It's an airborne way of penetrating the infection. A transplacental way of transmitting a disease is possible, when the pregnant woman is the source of the virus in relation to the fetus.
Rubella Symptoms in Children
In adults and children, the specificity of rubella symptoms depends on the stage at which it is located. Rubella has several of them:
- 1) Viral infections survive the incubation period, which continues from the moment of infection until the appearance of the first symptoms. For rubella, the duration of this stage is from 13 to 23 days. During this time, the pathogen has time to penetrate the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract, spread to the lymph nodes and multiply in them.
- 2) The next stage of the disease is not observed in all. It is called prodromal and lasts from several hours to two days. Catarrhal manifestations are poorly expressed through deterioration of well-being, an increase in normal temperature by 1-1.5 degrees. Shortly before the onset of rash begins to increase cervical, occipital, parotid lymph nodes.
- 3) Skin rashes can occur within a few days. They are sometimes preceded by enanthema( this formation on the soft palate of pink spots, which in some cases merge and pass to nearby surfaces - a hard palate and arches).A fine rash can spread throughout the body, but the greatest concentration is observed on the face, buttocks and extensor parts of the extremities. The rashes are abundant enough, do not tend to merge, and soon begin to lose color intensity. After them, there is a slight pigmentation and slight peeling.
- 4) Additional symptoms at this stage may be weak catarrhal manifestations, accompanied by an elevated body temperature, whose indicator reaches 38 ˚С.Adult patients sometimes complain of painful joints, which can swell and blush.
- 5) All symptoms gradually disappear with recovery( stage of reconvalescence).
Read also: what looks like, the symptoms and treatment of chickenpox with photos, the initial stage.
Rubella during pregnancy
Getting into the fetus through the placenta, the virus causes significant harm to the health of the child, leads to disruption of intrauterine development. The level of damage does not depend on the severity of rubella in the mother. Even if a woman does not feel any negative changes in her condition related to the infection, this does not mean that the virus did not affect the child in any way. It can lead to miscarriage, stopping fetal development or stillbirth.
Other types of effects of the disease on the embryo are possible, in which deformations are exposed to its organs and systems. There is a regularity, according to which the consequences are more severe than at the earlier term of pregnancy a woman is ill.
With increasing duration of pregnancy, the probability of congenital malformations decreases. If infection occurred in the second trimester of pregnancy, most often pathologies concern the organs of hearing. Later infection can result in lesions of the central nervous system, which can not always be diagnosed immediately after birth. They manifest later convulsions, mental illness and mental retardation. Congenital rubella is manifested in the presence of symptoms, called the triad of Gregg. They include cataracts, heart defects and deafness.
See also, symptoms of measles and mumps treatment.
Treatment of rubella
For adults and children, there is no specific therapy, the action of which would be directed at rubella. The treatment is symptomatic, and in the absence of complications it is performed at home.
The patient is assigned a bed rest period, which lasts from three to seven days, provides a full-fledged diet suitable for age, and abundant drink to speed up detoxification.
In adults, for control of the pathogen, virocides can be used, and also resort to the help of immunomodulators and immunostimulants.
Treatment of rubella symptoms consists in the use of expectorants, antipyretic drugs and analgesics. With a high intensity of rashes at the initial stage of their appearance, antihistamines can be prescribed.
Given the risks, infected pregnant women staying for a period not exceeding 28 weeks, are sent for abortion. If the performance of termination of pregnancy for some indication is impossible or prolonged gestation is longer than the specified period, immunoglobulin injections and other preventive measures are recommended to maximize the protection of the child and preserve the pregnancy.
Video: "How to treat rubella in children - Dr. Komarovsky"
Prevention of rubella
To prevent the spread of the virus, if a rash is found on the patient's body, it is isolated for a week, and those who come into contact with the infected for 21 days. If a woman in contact with an infected person during pregnancy, a check is made to have her immunity by serological tests, which are repeated after 5 weeks.
Vaccination is a specific preventive measure. It is performed at one-year-old age and repeated at six years. Usually, live combined trivaccine MMR, directed against such diseases as rubella, measles and mumps, is used for this purpose. Girls who were not vaccinated at an earlier age are appointed at 14 years of age.
To develop antibodies to the rubella virus there is also a monovaccine - Rudivax. It is recommended to women without acquired immunity planning pregnancy. But it should be administered no later than three months before the alleged conception.
Read also, inoculation: measles, rubella, mumps - when to do, reaction, complications.
Complications of rubella
In addition to the above cases of arthropathy( soreness of the joints) and the harmful effects of the virus on the developing intra-uterine organism, the clinical picture can be exacerbated by the appearance of new diseases, the origins of which are hidden in rubella.
Against the background of the main disease, chronic infections can worsen, the expansion of the infection zone leads to otitis, encephalitis and pneumonia.