How contagious are rubella infections for adults?

Since most adults have sufficient vaccination protection, rubella no longer poses a great danger. However, they are just as infectious as for children. Although rubella is a typical childhood disease, it can also affect adults.

If the vaccination protection is missing or unclear, it should be urgently checked and made up for. This is recommended for all adults, but especially for women of childbearing age. In pregnant women, the determination of the titer of the immune system IgG against rubella is therefore part of standard precaution. With a titer of over 1:32, it can be assumed that the pregnant woman and her unborn child are sufficiently protected.

Which adult needs a vaccination?

According to the recommendation of the Vaccination Commission STIKO, the rubella vaccination in combination with the measles and mumps vaccination (MMR vaccine) must be administered between the 12th and 15th month of life. It should be repeated before the age of 2 years to avoid possible vaccination failure in so-called non-responders. This is a live vaccination.

This means that attenuated pathogens are injected to stimulate the body’s immune system to develop antibodies against the actual pathogen. If the vaccination was missed in childhood, it should be repeated in adulthood. This is also the case if the person concerned has already gone through rubella once.

After an infection, there is always lifelong protection. However, if this rubella disease is a long time ago, a new infection may occur in rare cases. A booster vaccination is therefore also recommended for adults.

The vaccination is particularly important for women who are of childbearing age, as an infection of the unborn child is particularly dangerous. The vaccination may cause redness, swelling or hypersensitivity at the injection site. Fever is also possible. As this is a live vaccination, the course of the rubella can potentially be reduced.

How long is the incubation period?

The incubation period means the time between infection and the appearance of the first symptoms. With rubella it is about two to three weeks. In half of the cases, the disease does not break out at all and proceeds asymptomatically.