Rubella (loosely known as German measles) is caused by a virus capable of vertical as well as airborne transmission, and it can kill a fetus or inflict severe damage, including heart disorders, blindness, and deafness. That’s why young girls were counseled, in the era before rubella vaccine, to get themselves infected with the virus—suffer a mild bout and be done with it, permanently immune—before they reached childbearing age.
