Deafness Following Maternal Rubella: Retrospective and Prospective Studies

Abstract

A prospective study of children born to women who had had rubella in pregnancy during a widespread epidemic of the disease was instituted in 1951 and is still in progress. The present investigation comprises a prospective study of the hearing capacity of children in the Stockholm area who had histories of maternal rubella, as well as a retrospective study of children with hearing defects who had been referred to the Department of Otolaryngology and the Laboratory of Audiology, Karolinska Sjukhuset, Stockholm. The report also includes an inquiry conducted in the schools for the deaf and the special classes for hard-of-hearing children, with respect to pupils whose births were associated with the aforementioned epidemic.