Early results of an extensive rubella epidemic

The extensive rubella epidemic which occurred in Israel in 1972, had a considerable impact on the population at risk: 1. The spread of rubella infection into the community strongly influenced the extent of legal abortions: (a) 1 x 5 as many abortions for all causes were recorded in the epidemic year, as compared to the average number recorded in the three-year pre-epidemic period; (b) about 20 per cent of all abortions were associated with a history of exposure to rubella in the first months of pregnancy. 2. The incidence of congenital rubella diagnosed up to six months from birth varies greatly: the attack rate was 11.8 per thousand live births in an area inhabited by a population whose religious belief generally prevented the practice of abortions, as opposed to a significantly lower rate of 1 x 7 per thousand in a population with a liberal approach to abortions. 3. Ten months after the epidemic subsided, the percentage of female subjects of childbearing age lacking rubella HI antibody was very similar to that found in the same age group, several years before the epidemic.