Congenital rubella
Congenital rubella is a notifiable disease. However, to support the surveillance of this condition, the ISOSS team commissions the British Paediatric Surveillance Unit (BPSU) to collect notifications from clinicians throughout England. Monitoring of these cases enables ISOSS to identify whether maternal infections were acquired abroad or at home, and to maintain awareness of this condition.
Lead investigator
Pat A Tookey
Helen Peters (ISOSS manager)
About the study
Rubella has been a notifiable disease since 1988 and is monitored by Public Health England (PHE) Rubella Surveillance Programme Team, part of the National Infection Service based at PHE Colindale. In addition, the Integrated Screening Outcomes Surveillance Service (ISOSS), part of Public Health England’s Infectious Diseases in Pregnancy Screening (IDPS) Programme, maintains national surveillance of congenital rubella (CR) cases in the UK. This was especially important following the discontinuation of rubella susceptibility screening in pregnant women in England in April 2016.
The Infectious Diseases in Pregnancy Screening (IDPS) Programme commissioned the BPSU to provide case notifications on Congenital Rubella in England to the ISOSS team based at UCL’s Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health.
Since the cessation of rubella susceptibility screening in pregnancy in 2016, there have been no reported cases of congenital rubella in the UK where the mother acquired rubella.
Reporting instructions
Please report any infant or child seen by you for the first time in the past month who meets the case definition, regardless of country of birth.
Case definition
Any infant (live or still born) or child up to 16 years of age born in England (regardless of where maternal infection was acquired) or abroad who has suspected or confirmed congenital rubella.
Duration
January 1990 – April 2023
Funding
The Integrated Screening Outcomes Surveillance Service (ISOSS) is funded by the NHS Infectious Diseases in Pregnancy Screening Programme.
Approval
Patient data is collected by ISOSS under legal permissions granted under Regulation 3 of The Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002 to collect this data without patient consent.
ISOSS also conforms to the requirements of the Data Protection Act (2018).
Published papers
Surveillance of congenital rubella in Great Britain, 1971-96 doi:10.1136/bmj.318.7186.769
BPSU Annual Report 20-21