In most cases, mumps rarely causes a sustained illness. However, mumps infection in postpubertal men and women may affect additional organs. Testicular inflammation with associated sterility, encephalitis, pancreatitis, and various other organ involvement has been noted. Rubella is a viral illness characterized by cold-like symptoms with an associated rash. The rash begins on the face and neck and progresses to the trunk.
Rubella is less contagious than measles.
The disease is usually self-limiting, and rarely causes severe illness in healthy children. However, in the adult population, rubella continues to be a concern for nonimmunized women of child-bearing age. The most important consequences of rubella are the miscarriages, stillbirths, fetal abnormalities, and therapeutic abortions that result when rubella infection occurs during early pregnancy - especially during the first trimester. An estimated 20,000 cases of CRS occurred during 1964-1965 during the last U.S. rubella epidemic prior to the rubella vaccine's introduction in 1969. The incidence of varicella is highest in children aged 1-6 years of age.