According to a statement released by the Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS), Teratology Society, the Neurobehavioral Teratology Society, and the Behavioral Toxicology Society, rubella is no longer an endemic disease in the US and congenital rubella syndrome has been almost eradicated from the United States.
Rubella can cause blindness, deafness, and congenital heart disease when transmitted by a mother to her fetus. The early 1960s saw more than 11,000 fetal deaths due to rubella and about 20,000 infants with congenital rubella syndrome. Since then, a more effective vaccine, developed in the 1970s has helped to eliminate the transmission of rubella from an expectant mothers to her unborn child.There were less than 10 cases or rubella that was reported in the United States in the last year and 4 cases of congenital rubella syndrome reported over the past 5 years.
The statement also attributed the success of the immunization program to eliminate rubella to the combined efforts by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics the, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and various state and local health departments according to the statement.
Such effective strategies for childhood and adolescent immunization, can be the only method to extend this success worldwide.
