About Global Rubella Vaccination

Key points

  • Rubella is a leading cause of vaccine-preventable birth defects (known as congenital rubella syndrome).
  • One dose of rubella vaccine provides lifelong protection.

Overview

A mother holds her child in a health center as they wait for the child to receive a vaccine.
A woman and her child wait to get the child a dose of vaccine to prevent measles and rubella. ©UNICEF/U.S.CDC/UN0828426/Prinsloo

Rubella is a vaccine-preventable disease caused by a virus that is transmitted from person to person.

Rubella vaccines are safe and effective and have been used since the 1960s. One dose provides lifelong protection.

While rubella is preventable, nearly 25 million infants around the world lack access to rubella vaccines. In 2019, an estimated 32,000 infants were born with congenital rubella syndrome (CRS).

Keep Reading: About Rubella

Health impacts

Rubella can cause serious birth defects and death.‎

When an unvaccinated woman is infected early in pregnancy, the baby can be born with a set of birth defects known as congenital rubella syndrome (CRS).

CRS can cause:

  • hearing impairment
  • cataracts or glaucoma
  • heart defects
  • development delays

Rubella infection in pregnancy can also cause miscarriage or stillbirth.

Keep Reading: Pregnancy and Rubella

Best practices

National vaccination programs can prevent rubella and CRS.‎

Over 90% of countries have rubella vaccines in their national immunization programs.

The World Health Organization recommends that all countries include rubella vaccines in their national immunization programs.

Since 2000, the number of children born with CRS has declined by over 70%. However, infants are still born with CRS. The overwhelming majority of these children live in countries that have not yet introduced rubella vaccine into their national programs.

To prevent rubella infections and CRS, all children need access to rubella vaccines.

Rubella vaccination is almost always done with measles vaccination.‎

Most vaccines to prevent rubella are also given with a measles vaccine in a single shot. Learn about what CDC is doing to protect children from measles globally: Global Measles Vaccination