Australia eliminates rubella, thanks to a successful vaccination program

Crowning glory of National Immunisation Program of Australia is elimination of rubella from the country

WHO (World Health Organization) has declared that rubella has been eliminated in Australia. It is a landmark moment for the country.

Australian health minister Greg Hunt said in an announcement that the country has been successful in eliminating the disease thanks to a national immunization program. This provided free vaccinations for children aged 12 months and a booster at 18 months.

“The elimination of rubella is a great day for public health in Australia and sends a powerful message that vaccinations work,” Hunt said in a statement.

“The science is in and the medical experts’ advice is absolute – vaccinations save lives and protect lives and they are an essential part of a healthy society,” he said. The development at a time when vaccine hesitancy if growing the world over including in the developed countries. USA for example has seen an alarming resurgence of a polio-like disease.

Rubella is a contagious disease whose symptoms include, mild fever, rash and swollen lymph glands. But its consequences can be severe.

“The elimination of rubella is a great day for public health in Australia and sends a powerful message that vaccinations work”

When contracted by expectant mothers in early pregnancy, it can cause miscarriages, stillbirth or life-long problems for their babies, including: vision problems, deafness, brain inflammation, heart defects, liver disease, bone disease and growth retardation. The celebrated Agatha Christie novel “The Mirroe Cracked From Side to Side” talks how a mother who loses her child because of an infection and how she takes revenge on the person responsible.

Rubella, also known as German Measles, is caused by a different virus than measles, and is neither as infectious nor usually as severe as measles. There have been several outbreaks of the latter over the past year, with those incidences linked to foreign visitors.

Professor Elizabeth Elliott from the University of Sydney told Fairfax Media that early in her career she had seen children born deaf and with eye and heart problems as a result of rubella exposure during early pregnancy.

There have been just two cases of rubella in Australia this year, following a number of epidemics. In 1958, there were more than 5,000 cases. In 1963-64, there were more than 3,000 cases, and in the early 1990s there were more than 4,000 registered cases, in data supplied by Hunt. But the elimination is a testament to how successful Australia’s program of tackling rubella has been.