The rubella vaccine
Rubella immunoglobulin
NOTE: Before reading about the rubella vaccine, you should be aware of the terms 'vaccination' and 'immunisation'. While these terms are often used interchangeably, there is a difference in their meanings. Vaccination refers to an injection of a substance that is aimed at setting up an 'immune response' in a person's body to protect them against an infectious virus, or disease. A vaccination does not always guarantee 'immunity' - as some people can be vaccinated but still not develop a 'protection', or immunity, against the infection. Whereas 'immunisation' is the body's successful 'response' to being vaccinated.
The rubella virus is found worldwide and was first isolated in laboratories in 1962. Its use as a vaccine was approved in Australia in 1970. In 1971, a national Australian government program funded the mass vaccination of teenage girls at school. Also around this time, any woman of childbearing age was offered a blood test, and if this showed she was not immune to the rubella virus, she was also offered the rubella vaccination. These programs led to a significant reduction in babies being exposed to the Rubella virus during pregnancy. By 1983, about 95% of women in Australia were believed to be immune to rubella (compared to 82% in 1971).
It soon became evident that many young boys and adult men were experiencing rubella infections, and while the threat of pregnancy related complications was not an issue, it encouraged the virus to be present in the community as a whole, increasing the chances of non-immune pregnant women becoming infected. Therefore the program for just immunising school age girls was extended to include teenage boys in 1994 to 1995. Around the same time the rubella vaccine was included in the
National Australian Immunisation Schedule for children as the 'MMR' (or Measles/Mumps/Rubella vaccine).