Rubella screening to end

Public Health England have announced that as of the 1st of April this year the national screening programme for rubella in pregnancy will be discontinued.  The current programme tests women during pregnancy, using a blood test, to see if they hold immunity to rubella. In cases where they are not immune women are advised to avoid contact with the virus and offered the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination after the birth of the baby, before any further pregnancies. However, following a review of evidence by the UK National Screening Committee (in 2003 and 2012), it has been decided that this is no longer necessary in the UK.

The four key reasons given were:

Rubella infection levels in the UK are so low that they are defined as “eliminated” by the World Health Organization

Rubella infection in pregnancy is very rare

Being fully immunised with the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine before becoming pregnant is more effective in protecting women against rubella in pregnancy

The screening test used can potentially give inaccurate results and cause unnecessary stress among women

Dr Anne Mackie, Director of Screening Programmes at PHE said: ”The decision to end rubella susceptibility screening in pregnancy in England is based on a rigorous assessment of the evidence and expert clinical advice. A major factor is that high uptake of the MMR vaccine in children means that rubella infection is considered to be eliminated in the UK by the World Health Organization. The change will free up busy midwives so they can spend more time looking after a new mother and her baby.”

For more information see here