Vaccine Choice Canada Rubella - Disease & Vaccine Information

Rubella

Rubella is a mild illness caused by a viral infection that primarily occurs in childhood but can also affect adults. Symptoms may begin with a mild fever, runny nose, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes and progress to a pink rash which usually disappears within 3 – 5 days. Up to 50% of rubella illnesses are so mild you may not even know you have rubella. Rubella is a respiratory infection that is mildly contagious and spread from person-to-person through coughing and sneezing. Women infected with rubella during the first three months of pregnancy are at higher risk for miscarriage and of giving birth to a baby with congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) and birth defects. Rubella is exceedingly rare and infectious disease experts concluded that rubella has been eliminated in Canada.

The Vaccine

In spite of the fact that disease experts have concluded that rubella has been eliminated in Canada, the rubella vaccine is still recommended at 12 months, and again at 18 months or 4 years of age.
All woman are checked for rubella during pre-natal care. A separate rubella vaccine used to be available for this purpose but is no longer manufactured forcing a mother to accept the MMR vaccine.
The rubella vaccine is only given in combination with mumps and measles (MMR) and often chicken pox (MMRV). These are all live-viruses. The risks associated with combination vaccines have not been tested.
Injecting multiple antigens and toxins at once increases the risk of overwhelming the body’s natural defence mechanisms and detoxification abilities.
The rubella virus was originally taken from an infected aborted baby in the 1960s and is nourished in a culture of human lung cells originally from an aborted baby. The measles and mumps viruses are nourished in cultures of chicken embryo cells.

Considerations for the Vaccine Decision

As of May 31, 2023, there have been more than 109,550 reports of vaccine reactions, hospitalizations, injuries and deaths following rubella containing vaccinations made to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System, including 507 related deaths, 8,240 hospitalizations, and 2,158 related disabilities. Nearly 66% of rubella vaccine-related adverse events occurred in children six years old and under. [53]
A US HHS study acknowledged that less than 1% of vaccine adverse events are reported. [54]
If your child is breastfed, your baby’s risk of catching childhood diseases are greatly reduced.
Placing your young baby in a group day-care setting increases the risk of encountering diseases.
The safety of the rubella vaccine has not been proven against a true placebo.

For more information: https://www.nvic.org/vaccines-and-diseases/Rubella

References

[53] https://www.nvic.org/disease-vaccine/rubella/quick-facts

[54] Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System – https://digital.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/docs/publication/r18hs017045-lazarus-final-report-2011.pdf

Vaccine Product Monographs

MMR (measles, mumps, rubella)

Product: MMR II (Merck)

Product Monograph: https://www.merck.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/04/MMR_II-PM_E.pdf (29 pages)

Patient Information sheet: https://www.merck.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/04/MMR_II-CI_E.pdf

Manufacturer website: https://www.merck.ca/en/vaccines-2/

Product: Priorix (GSK)

Product Monograph: https://ca.gsk.com/media/6254/priorix.pdf (23 pages)