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Rubella: your questions answered

Contents:What is rubella?
What damage can rubella do to my baby?
How can I protect myself against rubella?
I had rubella as a child. Am I immune?
Why am I being offered MMR vaccine and not a single rubella vaccine?
Doesn?t MMR vaccination cause autism?
I have been immunised before. How do I know whether I'm still protected?
I thought I was immune, but my blood has just been tested and now they say I'm not. Why?
I had a blood test for rubella in my last pregnancy and they said I was immune. Will I still be protected in my next pregnancy?
Can I have the MMR vaccine if I am breastfeeding? Won't my baby be affected by the vaccine?
I'm pregnant and my friend (or my friend?s child) has a rubella-type rash. What should I do?
I've just been immunised against rubella and now I find that I was pregnant at the time. Will my baby be damaged?
I'm pregnant and I've got a rash. What should I do?
Can you catch rubella more than once? Can someone who is known to be immune catch rubella?
I have recently arrived in the UK, and don't think that MMR or rubella vaccinations were offered in my country of birth. What should I do?
Further information

I have been immunised before. How do I know whether I'm still protected?

Protection through immunisation seems to be long term. Rubella-containing vaccine has been used for around 30 years and most of the people immunised when it was first introduced are still protected. But no immunisation protects everybody. In about 2% of cases (about 1 in 50) the immunisation doesn’t work. This may be because your body hasn’t produced enough protection or antibody, or because the vaccine hasn’t been stored or handled properly. In most cases another immunisation will work.



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