Rubella

Key facts

  • Rubella (german measles) is usually very mild for children, but it can be very serious for pregnant women.

  • If a pregnant woman catches rubella, her baby will almost certainly be born with serious birth defects such as deafness, blindness or brain damage. 

  • The combination vaccines that protect against rubella (MMR and MMRV) are the best way to protect your child from rubella.

Last updated on 13 December 2024.

On this page

When to vaccinate against rubella

It is recommended that you vaccinate your child against rubella at:


Share this page

What is rubella?

Rubella is sometimes called German ‘measles’ because it causes a rash that looks like the one caused by measles. Rubella, however, is a different disease to measles. Rubella is usually a very mild illness, but it spreads easily from one person to another. 

What will happen to my child if they catch rubella?

Usual symptoms

  • About 50 per cent of people who have rubella get a rash and painful, swollen glands (lymphadenopathy).
  • About 90 per cent of babies who get rubella infection during the first three months of their mother's pregnancy are born deaf, blind, with a heart defect, or with other major abnormalities (congenital rubella syndrome).

Rare symptoms

  • About 0.016 per cent of people who have a rubella infection develop swelling in the brain (a dangerous condition called encephalitis, commonly known as ‘brain inflammation’).
  • Rubella infection can cause a blood disorder called thrombocytopenia. Thrombocytopenia causes children to bruise or bleed very easily. It usually lasts for between one and six months and then gets better.
What vaccine will protect my child against rubella?

In Australia, children receive the MMR vaccine which strengthens immunity to rubella, mumps, measles; and the MMRV vaccine which also strengthens immunity to varicella (chickenpox).

When should my child be vaccinated?

It is recommended that children get a vaccine that protects against rubella at 12 months and 18 months .

It is important that children get all their vaccinations on time to ensure they have the  best possible protection against infectious diseases.

How does the rubella vaccine work?

The vaccine works by ‘training’ your child’s immune system to recognise and get rid of the rubella virus. The vaccine contains a weakened (attenuated) live virus, which causes a harmless infection. This weakened live virus cannot give someone rubella itself.

When your child’s immune system detects the weakened virus in the vaccine, it produces proteins called antibodies. These antibodies are like soldiers that recognise and remember both the weakened and the normal rubella virus. If your child is ever exposed to the real virus, their immune system will recognise it quickly and fight it off using the antibodies it created after vaccination.2 

How effective is the vaccine?

One dose of a rubella-containing vaccine produces infection fighting cells (antibodies) in 95–100 per cent of people.3

Will my child catch rubella from the vaccine?

No, there is no risk that your child will catch rubella because the rubella-containing combination vaccines, MMR and MMRV, only contain a weakened version of the rubella virus. This weakened virus trains your child’s immune system to recognise the virus and fight the disease, but does not cause the disease. Rarely, children receiving the vaccine may develop swelling of the glands, or swelling and pain in their joints, similar to rubella disease, but they fully recover.

Children with cancer or serious immune system diseases should not have live vaccines, including MMR and MMRV, as they can become very unwell. Your immunisation provider will screen for these conditions before giving your child their vaccine.  

What are the common reactions to the vaccine?
  • About 10 per cent of children who get a vaccine that protects against rubella  experience local swelling, redness or pain at the injection site. These symptoms usually resolve within one or two days.   
  • Between 5 and 15 per cent get a high fever and tiredness or lack of energy (malaise) between 5 and 12 days after they get the first dose of the vaccine.
  • About 5 per cent get a rash which cannot spread to anyone else.
  • Side effects are more common after the first dose of a vaccine that protects against rubella, recommended at 12 months.
Are there any rare and/or serious side effects to the vaccine?
  • Up to 1.6 per cent get swollen glands, a stiff neck or joint pains.
  • About 0.03 per cent of children who get a first dose of a vaccine that protects against rubella experience febrile convulsions (fits). These happen when a baby or child's temperature (fever) goes up suddenly. Febrile convulsions don’t have long-term effects on a child’s health and development. 
  • Between 0.003 and 0.005 per cent develop a blood disorder called thrombocytopenia (a low platelet count in the blood) after their first dose of the MMR vaccine. Thrombocytopenia causes children to bruise or bleed very easily. It usually lasts for between one and six months and then gets better.
  • About 0.0001 per cent of people have an allergic reaction following vaccination  that affects their whole body, called anaphylaxis. This reaction usually happens within 15 minutes of getting the vaccination and can be treated with an injection of adrenaline. People who have this reaction usually recover quickly and don’t experience any long-term effects.

If your child doesn’t seem to be getting better, or you are worried about them, you can get help from:

  • your doctor
  • your nearest emergency department
  • or by calling Health Direct on 1800 022 222.
What impact has vaccination had on the prevalence of rubella?

The rates of rubella have fallen rapidly since a rubella vaccine was registered in 1970, and continues to remain at very low levels.4,5

What impact has vaccination had on the prevalence of rubella?

  1. Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI). Australian Immunisation Handbook, Australian Government Department of Health, Canberra, 2018, immunisationhandbook.health.gov.au
  2. Australian Academy of Science. The science of immunisation: questions and answers. Canberra, 2021. Available from: https://www.science.org.au/education/immunisation-climate-change-genetic-modification/science-immunisation 
  3. American Academy of Pediatrics. Red Book 2015: Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases. Kimberlin DW, Brady MT, Jackson MA, Long SS (eds). Elk Grove Village, IL; American Academy of Pediatrics: 2015
  4. Chiu C, Dey A, Wang H, et al. Vaccine Preventable Diseases in Australia, 2005 to 2007, Communicable Diseases Intelligence Volume 34 Supplement December 2010: S1-167
  5. Updated with data from NNDSS Annual Report Writing Group. Australia’s Notifiable Disease Status, 2010: Annual Report of the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System. Communicable Diseases Intelligence Volume 36 March 2012: 36:1-69