Symptoms begin to appear two to three weeks after exposure to the rubella virus. German measles usually lasts only three days and is characterized by slight fever, rash and swollen glands in the neck. Since rubella is often a mild illness, you may not recall whether or not you had the disease as a child. The most serious effects of these diseases occur in pregnant women. Measles can cause a woman to have a miscarriage or to give birth prematurely.
German measles is even more dangerous.
The last big rubella epidemic in the United States was in 1964. Because of that epidemic, about 25,000 children were born with serious problems such as heart defects, deafness, blindness or mental retardation. To check your medical record, make an appointment with a practitioner at the health center nearest you. This policy became state law in the fall of 1990.