Abstract

Eighty-five older patients with congenital rubella attending The Hospital for Sick Children were reassessed, paying special attention to their development and adaptation to their handicaps.

They were a very handicapped group of children, nearly all were deaf, over two-thirds had ocular defects, and over half had cardiac defects. 15 children had a single defect. Abnormal finger patternings were present in 35%, but 21% of the mothers of these children had similar patterning. Only 9 children attended normal schools, the rest attended partial hearing units of residential schools for the deaf, and 24 children were in residential care for the mentally subnormal. Of the patients who had left school, 3 work in sheltered workshops, and 4 work as unskilled labour. No patient known to have had rubella antibody has lost antibody and there was no loss of immunological competence.