This infectious disease is tricky in that it has a high infectiousness. A disease is transmitted from person to person through air, kiss, during conversation and, unfortunately, from woman to fetus. Rubella is also dangerous because the incubation period is very long - 11-24 days, so an infected senior child or other relative can calmly communicate with a pregnant woman and not even suspect that it is infecting her with a dangerous virus.
Symptoms of rubella in pregnant women are not very painful:
- the temperature rises slightly (to 37.3 ° C);
- There are rashes in the form of small round spots, they can merge into large spots; the rash lasts 3-4 days;
- headache, weakness;
- insomnia;
- photophobia.
Rubella in pregnancy is treacherous in that already a sick woman can feel good without knowing about the ailment, and at this time her baby already feels the irreversible effects of the virus.
Rubella and early pregnancy
Worse, if a woman gets sick early, ie. in the first trimester. And every week the disease affects the embryo differently.
Consider how the rubella virus works during pregnancy on the fetus.
For the nervous system, this ailment is dangerous at 3-11 weeks of pregnancy, the eyes and the heart of the crumb are affected by the disease at 4-7 weeks, and congenital deafness can be in the child if the mother is infected at 7-12 weeks. Thus, rubella "beats" on those organs that are formed in the first trimester. They are called "the Greta triad", which includes cataract, deafness and heart disease.
Let's cite sad statistics: 98% of children with congenital rubella have heart disease, almost 85% of cats have cataracts, and 30% have deafness along with vestibular disorders.
Rubella in pregnancy has the most severe consequences at a period of 9-12 weeks. A crumb can die in the womb, and if the fetus survives, a malfunction in its development can not be avoided. The rubella virus can provoke congenital malformations. Especially dangerous in this regard is 3-4 weeks after conception. At this time, the disease leads to ugliness in 60% of cases. For example, at 10-12 a week, this figure is less - 15% of all cases of infection.
In addition to the aforementioned defects, rubella can lead to violations from the blood, to diseases of the liver, spleen, urogenital organs, mental retardation, etc.
Explanation of the test for rubella in pregnancy
If a woman was sick with rubella before pregnancy, then this is good, because she will not be able to catch again and, therefore, will not jeopardize the health and life of the long-awaited baby. What if the woman did not have rubella? It is necessary to vaccinate against this virus before planning pregnancy. If for any reason it was not done, then there is a risk of infection during the period of gestation.
What can I advise a future mother in this case? Be attentive to others, be interested in what happens in the kindergarten or school, where the older child goes. After all, it is important not to miss the epidemic of this disease.
If a woman communicated with a sick rubella, then it is necessary to urgently do a blood test for the IgM and IgG antibodies. Excellent, if the result shows negative IgM and positive IgG, i.e. the woman had previously had a rubella virus.
Negative data in both cases confirm that there was never a virus in the body, or that a woman is infected 1-2 weeks ago. To clarify the result, the blood test is repeated after 2-3 weeks. Bad, if there was a dynamic, i.e. if there is rubella, then in a woman during pregnancy, the IgM in the blood became positive, and IgG
In the first trimester, in order to avoid the terrible pathologies of the fetus, doctors recommend aborting the pregnancy. It is better if a woman becomes infected in the second or third trimester - rubella is already powerless to cause irreparable harm to the baby.
In the article we discussed how rubella affects pregnancy. In order not to jeopardize the health and even the life of the unborn child, ideally a woman should undergo a laboratory examination 2-3 months before conception. Then there is the opportunity to take appropriate preventive measures, to pass tests that can be compared with the results of examinations during pregnancy.