What does a positive Rubella virus test mean?

Rubella virus is a highly infectious disease, which usually occurs in pregnant women or pregnant women. Pregnant women infected with rubella virus are very harmful to their health. It can also easily lead to infection in the baby in the uterus, leading to miscarriage, or stillbirth, fetal malformations, etc. The harm is very serious and you need to go to the hospital for a detailed examination in time. A positive rubella virus test means that there is no infection, but it needs to be observed. There is a possibility of infection. You should pay more attention to your body and maintain a balanced nutrition. The onset of rubella is also related to eating habits. Learn more about: What does a positive rubella virus test mean?

What is Rubella virus positive?

Female friends who have participated in pre-pregnancy testing may know about the six eugenics tests, one of which is the test for rubella virus. It is understood that the infection rate of rubella virus among women in my country is still very high. Once a pregnant woman is infected with the rubella virus, it is possible to cause intrauterine infection of the fetus. Fetal infection may lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, deformity and some congenital diseases.

Currently, whether a pregnant woman is infected is mainly determined by testing the level of rubella virus antibodies, so the words rubella virus positive and negative often appear. So, what does a positive rubella virus test mean?

In fact, rubella virus antibodies mainly include IgG and igm antibodies. If the rubella virus is positive, it means that the rubella virus IgG is positive and the rubella virus IgM is positive; and a positive rubella virus IgG indicates that the pregnant woman has had this virus infection or vaccination in the past; a positive rubella virus IgM indicates that there has been an active infection with this virus during pregnancy recently.

It is generally believed that active infection in pregnant women is related to intrauterine infection of the fetus. About 40% of active infections are likely to cause intrauterine infection of the fetus. Therefore, before and during pregnancy, the main focus is on checking IgG and IgM antibodies in the blood of pregnant women.

The normal test result should be negative for rubella virus. Generally speaking, a positive test result for rubella virus indicates a recent infection with rubella virus, in which case it is not suitable for pregnancy; while a negative test result for rubella virus indicates that there has been no infection with rubella virus.

What to do if the rubella virus is positive

A positive test result for rubella virus is worrisome, as it indicates a recent rubella virus infection, which makes pregnancy unsuitable. What should I do if a pregnant woman tests positive for rubella virus during pregnancy?

As far as we know, if a woman contracts rubella in early pregnancy, the rubella virus can be transmitted to the fetus, causing severe systemic infection in the fetus and leading to various malformations, such as congenital heart disease, cataracts, deafness, microcephaly, developmental disorders, etc.; and visceral damage such as thrombocytopenic purpura, progressive encephalitis, hepatosplenomegaly, etc.

There is no special treatment for rubella. Here are some ways to prevent rubella during pregnancy:

1. Women in early pregnancy, regardless of whether they have had rubella or received rubella vaccine, should avoid contact with children with rubella, because they are more likely to contract the disease or be infected again during pregnancy.

2. If a woman in early pregnancy has never had rubella and is susceptible to rubella, but has had contact with a rubella patient, she should have an artificial abortion. If artificial abortion is unavailable, 80 ml of adult serum or immunoglobulin G can be injected intramuscularly to prevent congenital diseases in the fetus.

3. Large-scale vaccination of babies with live attenuated rubella vaccine can reduce the epidemic and prevent children carrying the rubella virus from infecting pregnant women, and can also reduce congenital malformations in the next generation.

4. Women who are about to get married and have never received rubella vaccine before should be given a booster shot and avoid becoming pregnant within 3 months after vaccination to prevent the live attenuated vaccine from poisoning the fetus.

5. Avoid reinfection. Pregnant women who have been vaccinated with rubella vaccine have a higher chance of reinfection than pregnant women who have naturally contracted rubella. Reinfection may affect the fetus. Therefore, they must also be strictly isolated from rubella patients. ...

What diseases does the rubella virus cause?

Patients infected with rubella virus generally have mild symptoms, manifested as sudden fever, headache, fatigue, accompanied by sneezing, coughing, sore throat and other discomforts, followed by a rash from the face to the entire body. However, the rash will disappear after 3 days, the body temperature will drop, and the illness will heal quickly. Because of this, rubella virus does not attract people's attention. Does this mean that rubella virus has no harm? Actually, it does not.

If the rubella virus exists in the body, once pregnancy occurs, especially in the third to fourth month of pregnancy, which is a critical stage for the development of fetal organs and tissues, it will invade the placenta and be transmitted to the fetus, causing congenital abnormalities of the fetus and causing rubella syndrome.

There are two types of fetal malformations caused by rubella virus: one is the inflammatory lesions caused by the virus, and the other is the impact on the growth and development of embryonic cells, which slows down development and inhibits differentiation, causing certain organs to be underdeveloped or grow slowly.

Rubella virus can also cause intellectual, behavioral, and motor developmental disabilities, a cause of permanent mental retardation. According to the characteristics of fetal development, generally speaking, if the rubella virus is infected 2 to 3 months before pregnancy, it will often cause congenital heart malformations, cataracts and glaucoma. Hearing loss or central nervous system diseases are mostly caused by rubella virus infection in late pregnancy.

At present, the main focus of treatment for rubella virus is prevention. Since people who have had rubella can acquire lasting immunity and will no longer be infected by the rubella virus, women of childbearing age, especially those with negative results for anti-rubella virus antibodies, can receive the activated attenuated rubella virus vaccine before pregnancy to acquire lifelong immunity.

Before getting vaccinated, you must make sure you are not pregnant and use contraception within 3 months to prevent the attenuated virus in the vaccine from infecting the embryo.