Medicine: Catch German Measles

To the children and adults who catch it, German measles (rubella) is almost invariably a trivial infection with slight fever, sore throat and fast-disappearing rash. But contracted by a woman during pregnancy, especially in the first three months, rubella is often hideously deforming or fatal to her unborn child.

This was first established in 1941 by an Australian ophthalmologist, Norman McAlister Gregg, who found that many of his infant patients with cataracts and other defects were born a few months after their mothers had German measles. The question remained just how frequently the disease causes such damage. Now Harvard University's Dr....

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