Hanoi’s Central Tropical Hospital said it has treated 848 cases of rubella, or German measles, since mid-January and the number is rising every day.

Dr Nguyen Tien Lam, head of the virus and parasite department, said there had been 91 serious cases requiring hospitalization, a third of them pregnant women.

Since rubella’s symptoms are similar to those of measles, many people have been caught unawares, leading to complications, he said.

While children can develop acute respiratory infection, in adults it causes meningitis, a condition in which brain tissues become infected and swollen, causing severe headache, fever, and sometimes death.

The hospital is treating three people with this disease, he added.

Pregnant women are especially vulnerable to severe risks in the first three months of pregnancy.

Rubella can cause serious and incurable illnesses and deformities in newborns, doctors warned, advising women to have a rubella shot three months before pregnancy.

Nguyen Tran Hien, head of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, said the disease has spread to industrial zones and urban areas in Hanoi and northern provinces.

Vietnam has no public immunization program against the disease.

Hospitals in big cities provide rubella vaccinations on request but the number of people, especially women, turning up for shots remains small, he said.

The Department plans to do research on the disease in Vietnam and international donation would be solicited for immunization programs in high-risk areas, he added.

Rubella, caused by the rubella virus, is normally a mild disease.

It has symptoms similar to normal flu, accompanied by the appearance of a rash on the face which spreads to the torso and limbs and usually fades after three days.

Other symptoms include slight fever, swollen glands, joint pains, headache, and conjunctivitis.

Babies born to women with rubella can suffer cardiac, cerebral, ophthalmic, and auditory defects, low birth weight, anemia, hepatitis, severe heart disorders, or other life threatening organ disorders.

The risk of major defects is highest for infections contracted in the first trimester.

Source: Tuoi tre