Who should be vaccinated as an adult?
Every adult should be vaccinated against rubella if the vaccination status is unclear or if there is no vaccination or only one of the two rubella vaccinations. After a rubella infection in childhood, there is a tendency for life-long protection. However, since rubella is clinically difficult to distinguish from other childhood diseases, it cannot be assumed with certainty that the rubella virus was behind the disease.
In rare cases, a new infection is possible even if the child has already been infected with rubella. Therefore, all adults who have already had rubella should be vaccinated afterwards. Especially women of childbearing age should check whether they received two rubella vaccinations in childhood.
The effects of rubella infection during pregnancy in unvaccinated women are dramatic and dangerous for the child. It is easy to give the unborn child sufficient protection in the womb through rubella vaccination. Unvaccinated women and women with unclear vaccination status should urgently catch up on the two rubella vaccinations at least four weeks apart.
If there is only one vaccination, it is recommended to have the second vaccination followed. This assessment corresponds to the current recommendations of the STIKO for the prevention of a (congenital) rubella syndrome in children that is present from birth. Depending on the week of pregnancy, the risk of complications is accordingly high.
In the first eight weeks, there is a probability of up to 90% of cases of damage to the unborn child. In the first to fourth month, miscarriages are not uncommon. The conclusion: For your own protection and for the protection of the pregnant woman, a booster vaccination should be given if the rubella vaccination is missing.
The second vaccination is necessary because some people have not yet developed sufficient protection against rubella after the first vaccination. They are called non-responders or vaccination failures.The second inoculation serves therefore not the refreshment, but rather the closing of this inoculation gap. The probability of sufficient protection against rubella is therefore increased with the second vaccination.
Many parents want to spare their children the second vaccination. A titer check after the first vaccination to verify the success of the vaccination tends to be possible, but not useful. Often false positive test results are obtained, which simulate sufficient vaccination protection. In addition, a blood sample must be taken to determine the titer, which is more invasive and usually more stressful for the child than revaccination.
