A rubella outbreak in the region of Rijeka, Croatia

In the Region of Rijeka, Croatia, a combined vaccination programme against rubella has been carried out since 1976, so that children of both sexes are vaccinated at age 15 months and all girls at the age of 14 (8th grade of primary school). This vaccination programme has been carried out unchanged up till now. In 1989 a rubella epidemic arose in the Region of Rijeka (344,845 inhabitants). In all 2746 cases were reported, of which 79.1% were men, and the rest were women (20.9%). Among the reported cases in men, the majority (70.3%) were aged 15-19 years. The number of reported cases was small and identical for both sexes under the age of 13, and above the age of 20 years. The number of men aged 15-19 who fell ill was considerably higher than the number of women of the same age. In this epidemic rubella remained a spring-time disease with its peak in April.