Institutional outbreak of rubella in a healthcare center in Chandigarh, North India

Rubella is traditionally considered a childhood disease but it has the potential to cause outbreaks in closed communities when a susceptible population accumulates. The present study reports an outbreak of rubella among healthcare workers in the pediatric center of a tertiary care North Indian hospital. The cases of rubella were identified by clinical features and confirmed by the detection of anti-rubella IgM antibodies in blood by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. A total of 23 cases of rubella occurred over a period of one and a half month, out of which 9 (39%) were males. All the patients were in the age group of 21-35 years. None of the patients gave a history of rubella vaccination. This outbreak of rubella occurred due to the accumulation of a susceptible population in a closed hospital environment. There is need for the introduction of rubella vaccination in healthcare workers to prevent outbreaks at work place.