Sailors From Flinders Naval College May Aid In Defeat Of German Measles

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 38, 16 April 1948, Page 6

Sailors From Flinders Naval College May Aid In Defeat Of German Measles

In Melbourne recently 55 young sailors took part in an experiment which may save unborn babies from blindness, deafness and other defects. They were recruits from Flinders Naval Base, where an epidemic of Rubella (German Measles) was raging. All were convalesca|fi and their blood-streams were stffi full of antibodies set up by the body to fight the disease. Rubella usually means no more than a little fever, a rash and some enlargement of the Lymphatic Glands, and leaves no after-effects, but if contracted during pregnancy, the mother, who is not harmed, transmits some hitherto unsuspected effects to the embryo child. Inoculation with serum products made from the blood of healthy people or from those who have previously suffered from it, have been found to prevent ordinary measles. This experiment was an attempt to invoke similar protection by inoculating pregnant women who have had Rubela during pregnancy and so prevent their children suffering. Until the outbreak at Flinders, it has been difficult to obtain donors, as the disease usually affects children and parents are unwilling for a child to be bled.