Use in lactation. Recent studies have shown that lactating postpartum women immunised with live attenuated rubella vaccine may secrete the virus in breast milk and transmit it to breastfed infants. Caution should be exercised when Meruvax II is administered to a breastfeeding woman. Symptoms of the same kind as those seen following natural rubella may occur after vaccination. Local pain, weal and flare, induration, and erythema may occur at the site of injection.
Reactions are usually mild and transient.
Following vaccination in children, reactions in joints are uncommon and generally of brief duration. Symptoms may persist for a matter of months or on rare occasions for years. In adolescent girls, the reactions appear to be intermediate in incidence between those seen in children and in adult women. Nervous system reactions such as convulsions have occurred rarely. Forms of optic neuritis, including retrobulbar neuritis and papillitis may infrequently follow viral infections, and have been reported to occur one to three weeks following inoculation with some live virus vaccines.