Why You should be Vaccinated for Rubella?

Rubella virus causes rubella, also known as German measles and congenital rubella syndrome. Humans are the natural host. That means that the virus is only found in humans, therefore, you will not acquire it from any animal.

The virus cause disease in adults but its effects on the fetus are far worse. If the mother is not immune against it, and she acquires the virus during pregnancy, there is a high chance that your baby develops significant congenital malformations of the heart, brain and the eyes.

• ·         patent ductus arteriosus

• ·         cataracts

• ·         deafness

• ·         mental retardation

So how do you get the immunity?

You will have life long immunity if you are infected with the virus. If not, the only way to get the immunity is by vaccination.

Good News for Americans

In 2005 the centre of disease control announced that USA has eradicated the disease from their country. This is a result of extended immunization programs. There have been several cases reported after that but they are cases acquired from outside the country.

Are you infected with Rubella? How to Diagnose?  

pregnant? vaccinated?  

References:

Review of Medical Microbiology & Immunology - 10th Ed

Are you infected with Rubella? How to Diagnose?

The diagnosis of Rubella is done by several methods. They are,

• ·         Observing the virus’ ability to interfere with echovirus CPE

• ·         observing a fourfold or greater rise in antibody titer between acute-phase and convalescent-phase sera in the hemagglutination inhibition test

• ·          ELISA

• ·          observing the presence of IgM antibody in a single acute-phase serum sample

These words may confuse you, so let me explain how the immunity develops and how the diagnosis is done.

Rubella is a virus, so when the virus enters your body the body recognizes the virus and produce antibodies which fight against the virus. The kind of antibodies produced at the beginning are called IgM antibodies. When the time passes the body starts to develop the kind of antibodies which are called as IgG antibodies.

In vaccination what happens is that we introduce an inactive part of the virus to the body’s immune system, so it can produce the above antibodies without the actual virus infection.

We can check the blood for above two types of antibodies. If the blood contains IgM antibodies, that indicate recent infection with the virus. If it is IgG type, so it is past infection and indicate immunity, so there is nothing to worry about.

References:

Review of Medical Microbiology & Immunology - 10th Ed

Pregnancy and negative Blood group. Why your blood group is essential to know when you are pregnant?

Is your blood group is either one of the following?

• A negative
• B negative
• AB negative
• O negative

Are you pregnant? Then you have something to worry about.

Everybody’s blood group follows either ‘positive’ or ‘negative’. What does this means. Positive means the presence of a special kind of antigen on the surface of the red blood cell, and negative means its absence.

More confused? Well let me try to explain further. Our body is composed of various molecules. Each and every one of these molecules is determined by genes. I guess you know what genes are. They are parts of our genome which carry the coding for these molecules. If you have the gene your body can produce the molecule. If not you can’t. It is simple, isn’t if?

Now back to blood groups. As mentioned above there is gene called the gene D.  This is responsible for the formation of the rhesus antigen on the surface of the red blood cells. So the negative people don’t have that gene and therefore, they don’t have the antigen on the surface of the red blood cells.

I have used the word ‘antigen’. What does this mean? An antigen is a any molecule that is foreign to our body.

What does this have to do with pregnancy?

Well, the problem comes when a negative mother is carrying a positive fetus for the first time in her life. As described above the positive baby has the antigen in their blood cells. Now, during delivery, the child’s blood mixes with the mother’s blood. So the mother’s body recognizes the antigen in red cells from the fetus and produces antibody against them.

These antibodies go and attack red cells with that antigen and destroy them. The first child is not affected. The problem comes when the mother is conceiving for the second time with a positive fetus. Now the mother’s body has preformed antigens, which can enter the fetal blood stream, and attack fetal red blood cells.

This leads to rapid destruction of fetal blood cells and thereby leads to fetal anemia and hydrops fetalis.  

If you have any query, just leave it on comments, I am always looking forward to answer them all.

What are the complications/diseases that could arise with pregnancy?

• Hyper emesis gravidarum
• Infections
• Rhesus isoimmunisation
•  Pregnancy induced hypertension
• Gestational diabetes
• Polyhydroamnios
• Oligohydroamnios
• Antepartum hemorrhage
• Intrauterine growth retardation
• Intrauterine death
• Prelabour rupture of membranes
• Complications during labour

I will be discussing about these complications in my next posts. If you have any queries or clarifications, you are always welcome.

If you have any query, just leave it on comments, I am always looking forward to answer them all.

Are you pregnant?

So, you have done everything to be pregnant and waiting to know you are actually pregnant or not? Then there are few things you should do and stay aware of.

You should keep records of your menstrual periods, because it is important in calculating the expected date of delivery and period of amenorrhea.  Once you are pregnant, every event/ problem/ disease is managed and treated according to the period of amenorrhea. The management method differs accordingly. Therefore calculating the POA correctly is essential. You should have accurate records of your resent menstrual periods, for the medical people to calculate the POA correctly.

Keep a close eye on the periods. If there is any delay of the menstruation it could be because you are pregnant. Some women have menstruation different from the previous ones when they are pregnant. Therefore menstruation does not always indicate that you are not pregnant. You should be able to detect any deviation from your usual menstruation.

 If any of above is positive, you should do a pregnancy test. If the test comes positive, you should note down the date you did the test. It is better to see a doctor and get medical advice after finding out that you are pregnant.

If you have any query, just leave it on comments, I am always looking forward to answer them all. 

Before getting Pregnant

There are a lot of things you should do, once you have decided to get pregnant. It is better to pay a visit to a doctor and get his/her advice, but very few do this.

Nutrition plays a major role in creating a normal healthy pregnant status. You should take a well balanced diet well before getting pregnant.

You should take folic acid before getting pregnant. Talk to your doctor and he/ she will prescribe you the tablets. Folic acid tablets are given to prevent chromosomal abnormalities of the baby. They are essential for normal cellular division, and any deficiency leads to chromosomal abnormalities.

Getting medical advice is essential for those who suffer from chronic illnesses like diabetes mellitus, hypertension, renal diseases, etc.  It is because they have to do special alteration in their present medications. For example diabetes patients taking oral pills should shift to insulin.

If you have any query, just leave it on comments, I am always looking forward to answer them all.

Preparing for pregnancy – Before you get married

Getting pregnant is some thing that you should think very seriously before you get married. Getting pregnant involve a lot of preparations, not only yourself, but also your husband, your economical status, and any thing and every thing.

First you should discuss with your fiancé about this issue. Talk to him about the time you want a child in your little family. Think about the following things.

• Your age – extremes of age carries a lot of pregnancy complications.
• Your job – you are going to have to leave the job your doing. Can you and your husband afford it?
• Your economical status
• Your living environment – Do you have a proper house? Maybe you want to build one before getting pregnant.

If the above things are not fulfilled, it is better to wait. Then you should choose a suitable contraceptive method.

If you have any query, just leave it on comments, I am always looking forward to answer them all.

Preparing for Pregnancy – Immunization

As I said previously, preparing for pregnancy should begin from the childhood. I am not saying that you should put in your little girls mind about getting pregnant. I am saying that if you have a little girl, you should provide her with the optimum care. It is essential for her future life, whether she gets pregnant or not. It is important for her to have a healthy and bright future.

Let’s get back to our main topic. What are the vaccines that are important in pregnancy? The first vaccine given for girls to prevent congenital abnormalities of her children is Rubella vaccine. It is a live attenuated vaccine. Now many countries have included this vaccine in their vaccination programs.

If you have any query, just leave it on comments, I am always looking forward to answer them all.

Most of the countries give the vaccine for both girls and boys before their puberty. Some developing countries give in only for boys. Now you might thing why it is given for boys. It is to prevent transmission. If the boys are not vaccine, they can transmit the virus to girls.

All the women in reproductive age group are given the vaccine. So, if you have not taken the vaccine, you should have it before you get pregnant, because Rubella infection during pregnancy creates severe congenital abnormalities in the fetus.  It is advised that you do not get pregnant until 3 months after vaccination, but the very few mothers, who have got the vaccine while they are pregnant, have not shown any congenital abnormalities.

Another congenital infection, which can be prevented by vaccination, is Hepatitis B virus infection. It is given for those who are high risk of acquiring the virus, like doctors, and nurses. Even you have not taking the vaccine, you can prevent from its infection by practicing hygienic methods, and by taking precautions when dealing with blood and blood products.

Chicken fox vaccine is another important vaccine that you should take before you get pregnant, if you have not got the infection in your childhood. If you get this infection while you are pregnant, it can be detrimental for both the fetus and the mother.

Preparing for Pregnancy - Nutrition

Preparing for pregnancy starts when you are in your mother’s womb. Surprised? It is the truth. Because everything that happens to you in your lifetime may have good or bad consequence in your pregnancy as well as your motherhood.

Physical fitness is an essential thing to become a mother. The genetics, the nutrition you get from the childhood determines your level of fitness. That’s why I say that everything that occurs to you from the day you a just one cell stage, affects your pregnancy.

In some countries, mostly the developing countries, give very little attention towards girls’ nutrition. In countries like India, the male child in the family is given the best diet, and the female child is given only the leftovers. It is very sad t see that such practices are still there regardless of the development of science, technology and health services.

Make sure you give the female child a well balanced diet from the day they are born (exclusive breast feeding up to 6 months). Their diet should include the following ingredients.

·        60% carbohydrates

·        30% fat

·        10% proteins

Never forget about vitamins and minerals. To get these you should eat enough fruits and green leaves.

It is very important a girl gets enough nutrition during her adolescent growth spurt; since this is the period her body undergoes rapid growth and development. If she didn’t get enough nutrition, there will be lot problems. For example, she may not achieve the adequate height. If the woman is very short, it is very dangerous for her to undergo a normal delivery, because her pelvis is not wide enough for the child to come out. In such cases she has to undergo caesarian section.  Caesarian sections caries a lot of risks. There are also long term complications. Some says it is not good for the baby too.

After menarche, a girl needs enough iron in her diet to restore the blood she looses during menstrual period.

Too much nutrition also can prevent you from becoming a mother. If you are taking a lot of calories, that will lead to obesity. Obeys women find it very hard to conceive, so it is very important you maintain your BMI within the normal range

If you have any query, just leave it on comments, I am always looking forward to answer them all.  

Becoming a good mother

Becoming a mother is not an easy process. Lord Buddha once said that the only post that is equal to being Buddha is being a mother. Becoming mother involves not only physical fitness, but also social, and psychological wellbeing.

Some women dream about becoming a mother from the childhood, and few of them prepare from the childhood, but most have no idea what they should do. Many women just go with the flow. First they study, then they get a job, then they get married and have children. The societies/cultures of many countries have embedded this line of thinking in women’s head, but they have not taught them what they should do to become a good mother.

After getting married, you will have children. Then you take care of them, but it is not that easy. Becoming a mother is something that you should think seriously, because the child’s whole life depends on how planned you are.

If you want to have a healthy, pretty and intelligent child, there are a lot of things you should do from the beginning.

Becoming a mother is a gift, which only a woman can have, but there should be a proper environment for that gift to be an actual gift. You should not have children just because you get conceived. You should have a child, because you wanted a child. So, keep that in mind before you get married, or even before starting a relationship.

If you have any query, just leave it on comments, I am always looking forward to answer them all.