The article reviews Poland’s ongoing struggle to eliminate rubella, a contagious viral disease that can cause serious birth defects if contracted during pregnancy. Despite high vaccination rates among children, Poland has experienced frequent rubella outbreaks, especially among adolescent boys who were not historically included in vaccination programs. Most cases occurred in people under 20, and the risk of congenital rubella syndrome (CRS)—which leads to birth defects—remained because many women of childbearing age were still susceptible. We recommended supplemental immunization activities targeting adolescent boys and unvaccinated girls, enhanced disease surveillance, and closer integration with measles elimination efforts to protect public health and prevent CRS.
This article was published in a special supplement of the Journal of Infectious Diseases, commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization to document global efforts to eliminate measles and rubella in selected WHO regions. Laura Zimmerman participated as part of a WHO mission to evaluate rubella surveillance. Together, we demonstrated that rubella transmission had shifted primarily to young adult males and that an outbreak in this group was likely. Unfortunately, this outbreak occurred as predicted three years later 🙁.