Rate and various aspects of eye infection resulting from congenital rubella.

A study on the eyes of 39 embryos, which were removed from women who had contracted clinical or subclinical rubella during the first and beginning of the second trimester of gestation is presented. A virological and histological study was performed on the eyes. In four cases rubella virus was isolated from the eye tissues (10.3%) and in nine cases, histological evidence of rubella cataract was found (27.3%). These results suggest that the rubella infection, even in cases of subclinical infections in pregnant women in the first trimester, are highly dangerous (in our study--37.6%) to the eye of the fetus, and, therefore, early diagnosis is necessary in order to avoid the risk of the consequences of congenital rubella infections in the newborn.