The rubella virus can cause these symptoms
Despite the availability of a vaccine, there are still people who become infected with rubella. Symptoms are usually mild, but for some, the infection is dangerous. What consequences rubella can have.
German measles (technically known as rubella) are an infectious disease caused by viruses. Rubella is mostly harmless, especially in children: the symptoms then disappear on their own within a few days.
However, rubella rarely causes more severe symptoms or even complications. Young people and adults are more likely to be affected. The infection is particularly dangerous during pregnancy: This can lead to miscarriage or permanent damage to the unborn child.
Rubella is easily transmitted from person to person – for example through coughing, sneezing or kissing. In order to protect the unborn child in particular, it is important to recognize every infection at an early stage and to prevent its further spread as far as possible. What does rubella look like and what other symptoms can it cause?
When rubella causes early symptoms
Infections with the rubella virus often go unnoticed: only in every second case do rubella become noticeable through symptoms. A first sign can be swollen lymph nodes. This so-called lymphadenopathy typically first appears in the neck and behind the ears, and later everywhere. The spleen is also enlarged in some cases.
In addition, rubella can initially cause general symptoms that are similar to those of a mild cold. Such early symptoms (technically called prodromes) are more likely to occur in adults than in children. This often involves:
slightly increased body temperature (up to 38 degrees Celsius)
Sniffles
conjunctivitis
headache
body aches
This early stage of rubella is usually mild. The symptoms hardly affect the general condition and disappear by themselves after a short time.
What the typical rubella rash looks like
A few days after the beginning of the early phase, rubella can cause further symptoms: A patchy to nodular-blotchy rash then forms. Often – especially in children – this rubella rash is the first and only sign of the infection. But it can also be completely absent.
The rubella rash usually starts on the face and then spreads to the stomach, back, arms and legs. The patches on the skin are typically:
relatively small (smaller than measles but larger than scarlet fever)
colored bright red
sometimes surrounded by a pale halo
round to oval
slightly raised
wide apart (rarely – and then only on the trunk – they can merge into each other)
not associated with itching
Usually, the rash associated with rubella is short-lived: Symptoms resolve in one to three days, and most sufferers recover quickly.
Good to know
Symptoms of rubella can be similar to other diseases with a rash – for example measles, ringworm, three-day fever, scarlet fever or allergic and non-allergic skin reactions to medications. In order to diagnose rubella with certainty, a laboratory test to detect the rubella virus is therefore advisable: for example in a throat swab or a urine sample.
When rubella threatens severe symptoms
Rubella is mostly harmless: the symptoms then remain mild until the end and disappear of their own accord within four to five days. Complications occur only rarely – almost never in children.
However, adolescents and adults are at higher risk of rubella causing more severe symptoms. For example, some – especially young women – develop pain and inflammation in several joints, which can then become swollen and stiff. The hand, finger and knee joints are usually affected. The joint pain can last for a few weeks.
More serious symptoms rarely occur with rubella. However, the risk of this increases with age. The main complications include:
bronchitis
Middle ear infection (otitis media)
inflammation of the brain (encephalitis)
Heart muscle inflammation (myocarditis)
Inflammation of the sac around the heart (pericarditis)
reduced number of blood platelets (thrombocytopenia)
Platelets – technically known as thrombocytes – are responsible for blood clotting. If their number decreases in the course of rubella, this can result in further symptoms: Some sufferers then experience bleeding (haemorrhage) with visible bleeding into the skin (purpura).
A special case is rubella in pregnant women. Because unlike infections after birth, the infection very often has serious consequences for unborn children. The risk is particularly high in the first few months of pregnancy.
In addition to a miscarriage or premature birth, rubella can lead to permanent organ damage in the unborn child – for example to the heart, eyes, ears and/or brain. Other possible symptoms of rubella infection during pregnancy are low birth weight, bleeding in the skin, enlargement of the liver and spleen, inflammation of the brain, liver or heart muscle and a small head.
Good to know
Once you’ve had rubella, you’re usually immune to it for the rest of your life. The best protection, however, is double vaccination.
