Rubella virus is the pathogenic agent of the disease Rubella, and is the cause of congenital rubella syndrome when infection occurs during the first weeks of pregnancy. Humans are the only known host of this virus.
Rubella virus is the only member of the genus of Rubivirus and belongs to the family of Togaviridae, whose members commonly have a genome of single-stranded RNA of positive polarity which is enclosed by an icosahedral capsid.
The molecular basis for the causation of congenital rubella syndrome are not yet completely clear, but in vitro studies with cell lines showed that Rubella virus has an apoptotic effect on certain cell types. There is evidence for a p53-dependent mechanism.
Read more about Rubella Virus: Structure, Genome, Replication, Capsid Protein, Epidemiology, Literature
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“If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life ... for fear that I should get some of his good done to me,—some of its virus mingled with my blood.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)