By Emmanuel Oti Acheampong
Also known as German measles, rubella is a contagious disease caused by a virus which is transmitted when infected people sneeze and cough. Rubella affects all categories of humans but pregnant women stand a high risk of contracting it.
Speaking on the topic Rubella and pregnancy, Pediatric Resident at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Dr. Nelly Adade has stated that, rubella can lead to pregnant women delivering their babies before their due dates. She made this statement when she appeared on the GTV Breakfast Show on January 17, 2023.
According to Dr. Adade, pregnant women can contract rubella when they are exposed to people who have the rubella virus. She mentioned coughing, sneezing, and flu as symptoms of rubella. She added that there is a need to get vaccinated against the rubella virus, though the vaccines were only introduced into Ghana in 2013. This she explained that people who were born before the vaccines were introduced into the country could possibly be infected by the rubella virus.
She further said when pregnant women contract rubella during the earlier stage of their pregnancy especially in the first trimester, it poses a high risk to the unborn baby in the womb. This, she said, can lead to stillbirth, miscarriages, and even have preterm labor.
“If you have it very early in your first trimester, your risk of having complications or your newborn having complications is high as compared to having it in your third trimester, because usually in the third trimester, most of the organs have already been formed. But in the first trimester, when a lot is being formed, when you contract rubella, your child is more likely to have complications at birth. You may have miscarriage, you may have a stillbirth, or you may go into preterm labor,” she explained.
She therefore advised that pregnant women and the Ghanaian populace get vaccinated against the rubella virus even though it comes at a cost.