Rubella: 4000 To Be Immunized

The Department of Health is currently engaged in the process of immunizing 4000 adult men and women between the ages of 22 to 44 against the disease Rubella. At a press conference on Monday, Chief Minister, Hon. Ralph T. O’Neal said that this initiative is part of a larger region-wide project aimed at protecting children in the region from the serious consequences of being born to a mother infected with the Rubella virus. Mr. O’Neal told journalists that the Health Department has started a campaign to insure that our children are born safe from Rubella. The BVI leader noted that it is also exceedingly important that men also be immunized as they may pass the virus onto females. The Minister for Health, Hon Eileene L. Parsons, has already made an appeal to the community to support and take advantage of the immunization initiative. Rubella infection is dangerous because of its ability to damage an unborn baby. Infection of a pregnant mother may result in a miscarriage, stillbirth or the birth of an infant with abnormalities which may include cataracts, deafness, heart defects, spleen and liver damage and mental retardation. Maintaining high levels of rubella immunization in the community is critical to controlling the spread.