Congenital Rubella Syndrome as a Systemic Infection. Studies of Affected Infants Born in Philadelphia, U.S.A.

Abstract

A severe epidemic of rubella occurring throughout the United States in 1963 and 1964 was followed by the birth of many infants with-congenital abnormalities. Between July 1964 and March 1965 40 infants with serious abnormalities were born in a large general hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On the basis of history of. maternal rubella, clinical features, and recovery of virus from the nasopharynx, 20 of the 40 infants were thought to be probable instances of rubella-induced damage. In addition to cataracts and heart disease, these infants showed signs of systemic infection, including lesions of the bones and bone-marrow. The rate of virus isolation from the nasopharynx of rubella-syndrome infants was 77% in the first month of life and declined at a regular rate thereafter, approaching zero at 6 months of age. Serological studies are reported concerning the presence of neutralizing- and the absence of complement-fixing antibodies in infants with rubella syndrome and the localization of neutralizing antibody to the macroglobulin fraction of serum protein. © 1965, British Medical Journal Publishing Group. All rights reserved.