Question

There is a public health perception that healthy girls aged 5 to 14 years should be exposed to natural infection with

• A. Rubella (German measles)
• B. Mumps
• C. Chickenpox
• D. Whooping cough

Hint:

Natural infection at this young age builds lifelong immunity before childbearing years, guarding a future pregnancy against a specific birth defect risk.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Understanding the Question.
The question asks which infection healthy girls aged 5 to 14 years were traditionally allowed to catch naturally, as a public health policy.

Step 2: Key Concept.
Rubella (German measles) is usually a mild illness in childhood. But if a woman catches it in the first trimester of pregnancy, it can badly damage the fetus. This is called Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS), and it can cause deafness, cataract, heart defects, and mental retardation in the baby.

Step 3: Detailed Explanation.
Before rubella vaccination became routine, doctors did not mind if girls between 5 and 14 years caught rubella naturally. At this age the illness runs a mild course and the body builds lifelong antibody against it. This protection stays in place for the rest of her life, so when she later reaches the childbearing age, she cannot catch rubella again during pregnancy, and her baby is safe from CRS.
Mumps, chickenpox, and whooping cough do not carry this same specific risk to a fetus in early pregnancy. So there was never a similar public health push to deliberately expose young girls to these three infections.

Step 4: Final Answer.
The infection healthy girls aged 5 to 14 years were encouraged to catch naturally is rubella (German measles), so that immunity is already present before the childbearing age and Congenital Rubella Syndrome is prevented in a later pregnancy.