Rubella, also known as "wind cholera," is a common respiratory infection in children. Rubella is caused by the rubella virus, which is present in the saliva and blood of children 5 to 7 days before the rash, but is not easy to find 2 days after the rash. The rubella virus is weakly viable outside the body, but is as contagious as measles. It is usually spread by coughing, talking or sneezing. The disease is most common in children between the ages of 1 and 5 years, and infants less than 6 months old rarely develop the disease because they have antibodies from their mothers to gain resistance. Once infected, they can be immune for life and rarely get sick again.

Rubella takes 14 to 21 days to develop from exposure to infection to the appearance of symptoms. The first 1 to 2 days of the disease symptoms are very mild, there may be low or moderate fever, mild cough, fatigue, poor appetite, sore throat and eye redness and other mild upper respiratory symptoms. The patient's oral mucosa is smooth, without congestion and mucous membrane spots, and the lymph nodes behind the ear and in the occipital area are enlarged with mild pressure pain. The rash usually appeared 1 to 2 days after the onset of fever, and started from the face and neck first, spreading to the whole body in 24 hours.

The rash begins as a sparse red maculopapular rash, and later the rash on the face and extremities may become fused, resembling measles. From the second day of the rash, the rash on the face and limbs may become pinpoint red spots, like a scarlet fever-like rash. The rash usually subsides rapidly within 3 days, leaving a light pigmentation. During the rash period, the body temperature no longer rises, and the child usually has no feeling of illness and eats and plays as usual. Rubella and measles are different, rubella systemic symptoms are mild, no measles mucous membrane spots, accompanied by behind the ear, neck lymph node swelling.

Rubella after a good, good prognosis, few complications, but pregnant women (early pregnancy within 4 months) infected with rubella virus, the virus can be transmitted to the fetus through the placenta causing congenital rubella, congenital malformations, such as blindness, congenital heart disease, deafness and microcephaly. Therefore, pregnant women should avoid contact with rubella patients as much as possible in the early stages of pregnancy and receive live attenuated rubella vaccine at the same time. Once rubella occurs, interruption of pregnancy should be considered.

Patients should be promptly isolated for treatment, and isolated until 1 week after the rash. The patient should rest in bed, give vitamins and nutritious and easy to digest food, such as vegetables, minced meat, rice porridge and so on. Pay attention to skin hygiene, bacterial secondary infection. Rubella complications are rare, once the occurrence of bronchitis, pneumonia, otitis media or meningoencephalitis and other complications, should be treated promptly.

Strengthen medical observation of close contacts, pay attention to the rash and fever, in order to facilitate early detection of patients. Contact classes in child care institutions should be isolated from other classes during the incubation period and no new students should be admitted to prevent transmission.

Rubella is a viral infection characterized by mild systemic symptoms, red macules on the skin and swollen lymph nodes behind the occiput, ears and neck with tenderness, and rare comorbidities. Pregnant women infected with rubella in early pregnancy, the virus can be transmitted to the fetus through the placenta and cause a variety of congenital defects, known as congenital rubella syndrome.