Before Zika Virus, Rubella Was A Pregnant Woman's Nightmare

Before the Zika virus outbreak, which appears to be causing serious birth defects in babies in Brazil, there was rubella, also known as German measles, which terrified the pregnant women of my mother's generation.

In the 1964-1965 rubella pandemic, an estimated 50,000 pregnant women in the United States were exposed to rubella in pregnancy, resulting in miscarriages, stillbirths, and 20,000 babies born with congenital rubella syndrome, which caused blindness, deafness, brain and heart damage. At the height of the pandemic, an estimated 1 out of every 100 babies born in Philadelphia was afflicted.

A vaccine for rubella was introduced in the 1970s, so parents no longer have to live in fear. But I still remember David, my first-grade friend Kathy's little brother. Kathy's mom came down with rubella while pregnant and David was born mentally retarded. He never learned to speak, but would flap his hands and burble excitedly in the doorway when Kathy and I were playing Barbies, then flit away. As an adult, I met Kathy again. She told me David died and her face crumpled.

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