| OCR Text |
Show New Rubella Vaccine Can Wipe Out A Major Cause of Birth Defects A!'f i?r Dr. Virginia Apgar urges vaccination of children against rubella (German measles) to eliminate the disease. When a pregnant woman is infected, her child may be born with severe defects. By VIRGINIA APGAR, M.D. Vice President for Medical Affairs The National Foundation March of Dimes If the new rubella vaccine is given widest use, it can eradicate German measles as a prime cause of birth defects de-fects within five years. The National Foundation, whose goal is prevention of birth defects, has launched educational programs to increase in-crease public and professional understanding of the need for mass vaccination of children. Inevitably the question arises: Why vaccinate youngsters young-sters if damage or death in the womb strike with devasting impact in early pregnancy? The answer is quite simple. Small children, between kindergarten kin-dergarten and second grade, are the most likely carriers of the disease. They can transmit it easily to their mothers or the mothers of friends. If children chil-dren are made immune to rubella, ru-bella, they will not be able to pass it on to women of child-bearing child-bearing age. Epidemic Predicted Rubella can spread in epidemic epi-demic proportions, as it did in 3964-65, with tragic results. Some 50,000 babies were handicapped or destroyed throughout the country. The figure includes about 30,000 fetal deaths and 20,000 live-born live-born babies who must endure life-long birth defects. Rubella epidemics usually strike in cycles of six to nine years. Many medical authorities authori-ties fear another destructive wave next spring. Fortunately, in major metropolitan areas, about 90 per cent of women in cbildbearing years are immune im-mune because of early exposure ex-posure to German measles. On the other hand, fewer women in rural areas catch the disease dis-ease when they are children. To prevent future waves of rubella-damaged babies, the March of Dimes has urged federal aid in supplying sufficient suf-ficient vaccine. A realistic in-, ilial program to immunize 75 per cent of the target group of children will require 42 million mil-lion doses. Since only about half of these children are likely like-ly to be inoculated by private physicians, government financing finan-cing of vaccine for the others is vital for effective protection. i Our educational efforts also tike aim at two confusing points. The vaccine for rubeola (regular measles) will not protect against rubella (German (Ger-man measles). Boys catch rubella and carry it home. It is true that they will never be mothers, but if they spread the disease to women, the effects can be disastrous. Danger to Women The most severe damage generally occurs during the first three months of pregnancy. preg-nancy. Because the symptoms can be so mild, a woman may never be. aware that .she has boon infected.- Furthermore, for at least the first month, a woman rarely rare-ly suspects she is pregnant. No one knows whether the live virus in the. vaccine can cross the placenta as does the. natural rubella virus, and endanger en-danger the embryo. For this reason, medical authorities warn against inoculation of women or girls beyond the age of 11. Educational Campaign There is a great need for public awareness about the life-saving benefits of the rubella ru-bella vaccine, and for public action. We would like to see premarital blood tests also used for checking immunity against rubella and Rh blood types. To encourage maximum maxi-mum use of the vaccine, 3,000 March of Dimes chapters are working closely on educational education-al projects with local health departments and medical societies. so-cieties. The day the vaccine was licensed by the federal government, govern-ment, we sent copies of a definitive de-finitive article by National Foundation grantee, Dr. Louis Z. Cooper, entitled: "Rubella: A Preventable Cause of Birth Defects," to 145,000 physicians physi-cians and oiher medical professionals. pro-fessionals. We also are dis tributing millions of educational educa-tional flyers. Since 1958, the year wa launched our fight to prevent birth defects, we have supported support-ed research into ways of over coming the rubella menace. Much of what is known about the persistence of rubella ru-bella virus in newborns and i their mothers is the result of ! a research project undertaken by Dr. Cooper and his associate, asso-ciate, Dr. Saul Krugman, at the New York University Medical Center. Dr. Krugman also is advisor to the U.S. Public Health Service on rubella ru-bella vaccination. |
