Congenital Rubella Syndrome
Release time : 12/13/2024 15:19:59
Rubella infection can be categorized into congenital and acquired types, with the acquired form generally referring to postnatal infections, whereas congenital rubella syndrome refers to an inherited condition.
Many people know that the rubella virus that is acquired from an infected mother does not cause serious illness, whereas congenital rubella syndrome differs in many ways from the rubella virus acquired from an infected mother.
Congenital rubella syndrome, what is it? What are its special symptoms? Congenital rubella syndrome, caused by the initial infection of the mother, although the vaccine has been popularized, there are still rubella infections, especially in people over 15 years old.
What exactly is congenital rubella syndrome? If a pregnant woman contracts rubella during early pregnancy, the rubella virus can infect the fetus via the placenta. The newborns resulting from such pregnancies may be premature and may suffer from congenital heart defects, cataracts, deafness, and developmental disorders, collectively referred to as congenital rubella or congenital rubella syndrome.
If a pregnant woman contracts rubella virus during pregnancy, the rubella virus can be transmitted to the fetus through the placenta, which is very dangerous for the fetus.
The mother's rubella infection can be passed to the fetus, which is related to the timing of the infection in the mother.
In pregnant women infected with rubella, the virus is present in the bloodstream 1 week prior to the rash.
In the embryonic period from the 2nd to 6th week, infection has the greatest effect on the heart and eyes.
During the first 16 weeks of pregnancy, particularly between weeks 8 and 10, rubella infection during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of congenital malformations.
In mid pregnancy, the fetus gradually develops immunity, and rubella infection is no longer as prone to chronic infection as in early pregnancy.
Generally speaking, congenital heart defects, cataracts, and glaucoma often result from viral infections during the first 2-3 months of pregnancy, while sensorineural hearing loss and central nervous system lesions often occur later in gestation.
Symptoms of Congenital Rubella Syndrome: For pregnant women who have received rubella vaccination, there is still a possibility of re-infection during pregnancy. This is because the body's adrenal cortical hormone levels increase during pregnancy, and cellular immunity decreases. Consequently, the virus can easily spread within the body, potentially affecting the fetus.
If the fetus is unfortunately infected and develops congenital rubella syndrome, what are the specific symptoms? 1. Pre-symptoms: The infant may present with neonatal thrombocytopenic purpura, which is characterized by scattered reddish-purple spots at birth, often accompanied by other transient lesions and premature closure of epiphyses in long bones, hepatomegaly, hemolysis, and anemia, as well as increased cell count in cerebrospinal fluid.
Low birth weight, congenital heart disease, cataracts, hearing loss, and microcephaly can also cause rubella viral hepatitis and interstitial pneumonia in newborns.
2. The characteristic feature of ocular defects is optic cup-shaped cataract, which is often bilateral but can also be unilateral, often accompanied by microphthalmia.
Cataracts may be very small or hard to see at birth, and must be carefully examined.
It may also cause glaucoma, characterized by corneal enlargement and opacification, an increased anterior chamber depth, and elevated intraocular pressure, necessitating surgical intervention.
In the retina, the most common scattered melanocytic patches of varying sizes are seen. These pigments generally do not impair vision but their presence is helpful in diagnosing congenital rubella.
3. Cardiac malformations are most commonly observed in aortic valve atresia, followed by pulmonary stenosis and its branches. Other less common conditions include ventricular septal defects, atrial septal defects, aberrant subclavian arteries, and more complex congenital anomalies.
Most infants present with no cardiac symptoms at birth, but may develop heart failure within the first month of life.
4. Hearing loss, which symptoms can vary from mild to severe, affecting one or both ears, and is located in the cochlea within the inner ear, but also occurs in the middle ear.
Deafness can also be categorized as a unique manifestation of congenital rubella, particularly prevalent in those infected after the eighth week of gestation.
5. Developmental disorders and malformations of the nervous system, congenital infection with rubella virus can also affect the central nervous system and cause varying degrees of developmental defects.
Changes in cerebrospinal fluid are often observed, such as an increase in the number of cells and a rise in protein concentration.
Intellectual, behavioral and motor developmental disorders are also a characteristic of congenital rubella. This early developmental disorder is caused by rubella encephalitis which may lead to permanent intellectual retardation.
Overall, congenital heart defects, cataracts, and glaucoma are often caused by viral infections during the first 2 to 3 months of pregnancy, while deafness and central nervous system disorders tend to occur later in the pregnancy. Infants may also exhibit transient congenital rubella manifestations, often due to infection in early pregnancy, or may be affected simultaneously in both mother and fetus from late pregnancy.
The treatment for congenital rubella syndrome is symptomatic and includes the care of persons with rubella antibodies. After discharge, patients are required to avoid contact with pregnant women. The specific treatment and nursing methods are as follows: 1. General rehabilitation therapy with enhanced nursing care, maintaining fresh indoor air, enhancing nutrition, and isolation until 5 days after the onset of rash.
2. Modern Western medical treatments primarily involve supportive care and symptomatic treatment, with appropriate administration of antipyretics, cough suppressants, and analgesics.
Beyond that, the most crucial aspect is dietary therapy for daily life, as diet is closely related to our everyday lives. The specific methods are as follows: 1. Yinqiao Jiedu porridge ingredients: Honeysuckle and Forsythia each 10 grams, Light Brown Mustard Seed, Bamboo Leaves, Sichuan Herb each 10 grams, Reed Rhizome 15 grams, Burdock Seed, Licorice each 6 grams, Japonica Rice 100 grams.
Method: Decoct the above-mentioned 8 ingredients in water to obtain a decoction, then strain off the residue.
Reheat, wash the rice, and make porridge.
When the porridge is nearly cooked, add the medicinal juice and decoct it for 1-2 times.
Take in two divided doses, morning and evening, with the liquid warmed.
This porridge is characterized by its warmth and dispersing properties, clearing heat and detoxifying, and is suitable for the initial stages of febrile diseases. It relieves symptoms such as fever accompanied by slight chilliness, headache, no sweat, or a scanty sweat, thirst, cough with throat pain, and a red tongue with a thin yellow coating, along with an elevated pulse rate.
However, it should be noted that: for external wind-cold syndromes characterized by severe chills and mild fever, this treatment is not recommended.
2. Qingying Soup Ingredients: 15-30g of Rehmannia, 6g of Bamboo Leaf Rolled Hearts, 10g of Honeysuckle, and 3g of Rhinoceros Horn (substituted with 6-10g of Water Buffalo Horn). 100g of Japonica Rice.
Method: Wash the Radix Rehmanniae, Cortex Dictamni, Flos Lonicerae, and Rhizoma Bubalibacis, put them into a pot together with water, decoct in water until it becomes a decoction.
Purify the juice and discard the residue.
Add the washed glutinous rice and cook it into a thin porridge.
Take 2 to 3 times daily, warm and eat.
This Congee is used to clear the camp and relieve the heat, as well as to penetrate the surface. It is applicable to the excessive heat in the camp. The symptoms can be seen as body heat, especially at night. It is irritable, the throat is dry but does not want to drink, the tongue is red, without moss, and the pulse is thin.
However, it is important to note: those with spleen and stomach deficiency cold should avoid this preparation.
How to prevent congenital rubella syndrome? If a pregnant woman has rubella during pregnancy, the fetus will be infected with rubella. This condition is called congenital rubella or congenital rubella syndrome.
Once a congenital rubella syndrome is diagnosed, most babies will have an abnormality at birth, and the symptoms are obvious.
Parts are not apparent until several weeks after birth.
A minority, occurring months or years later.
How can one prevent congenital rubeola syndrome? Congenital rubeola syndrome affects multiple organs and presents with various clinical manifestations.
Newborn infants may present with purplish red spots due to thrombocytopenia.
Due to liver disease or hemolysis, jaundice is observed, severe anemia, pallor or icterus. Liver and spleen enlargement.
Cardiac malformations are also common, with various types of congenital heart diseases presenting, such as patent ductus arteriosus, atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect, pulmonary stenosis or complex cardiac malformations.
The eye may be affected by unilateral or bilateral cataracts, microphthalmia, glaucoma, etc. If there is middle ear or inner ear lesions, unilateral or bilateral deafness may occur.
Rubella virus has a strong invasion ability to the neural tissue, and it can be long-term in the brain, so that the brain is affected obviously, small head deformity, intellectual, motor, behavior development disorder.
It can be seen that the severity of congenital rubella syndrome, and therefore the difficulty of treatment. The main thing is to prevent it, and the main object is pregnant women.
To prevent congenital rubella syndrome, rubella vaccine is administered, and the ideal vaccination targets are school-age girls and married women.
If you have not suffered from rubella and have not received rubella vaccine, you should first test for rubella antibodies in your serum. If it is negative, you should receive rubella vaccine.
The rubella vaccine, which is the live virus vaccine, can cause harm to fetuses and pregnant women should not be vaccinated.
If pregnant women have not been infected with rubella and have never received the rubella vaccine, if they are in close contact with a person infected with rubella, passive immunization can be performed. This involves administering at least 20ml of placental or 10ml of gamma globulin as early as possible to prevent fetal congenital rubella syndrome.
The medical content mentioned in this text is for reference only.
If you experience discomfort, it is recommended to seek medical attention immediately. The diagnosis and treatment should be based on a face-to-face consultation with a physician.