An 18-year-old female patient comes into an obstetrical office for a routine visit to obtain birth control pills. There are other women in the waiting room, many of them in various trimesters of pregnancy. While performing the patient screening, you find that she has a low-grade fever, an itchy rash, and is not up-to-date on her childhood immunizations. You discover later that she was diagnosed with rubella.

While reading this chapter, consider the following questions:

1. What is the common, or lay, term for rubella?

2. How is it transmitted?

3. Since pregnant women were probably exposed, is there a concern for their fetuses?

4. Does the disease have any reporting guidelines?