If a pregnant woman is infected with rubella, the virus can cross the placenta and be transmitted to the fetus, causing congenital rubella syndrome. The younger the mother is when she is infected, the higher the risk of the baby having congenital rubella.

Rubella (also known as German measles) is an infectious disease caused by the rubella virus (RNA virus similar to Rubivirus of the Togaviridae family). The disease is transmitted from sick people, virus carriers to healthy people through the respiratory tract or from mother to fetus.