11 June 2013 (01:32 UTC-07 Tango)/02 Sha’ban 1434/21 Khordad 1391/04 Wu-Wu (5th month) 4711

Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases says 9408 people were diagnosed with rubella between January and the beginning of June.  That’s four times higher than the same time last year, and the highest in five years.

Last week there were 680 new cases, health officials in Japan are calling the outbreak “critical”.

In United Kingdom, a rubella outbreak is being reported in West Midlands.  38 cases thus far.  Across all the U.K. there are at least 962 cases.

In the United Kingdom, Australia and United States, health officials are asking the news media to get the word out about vaccines.  Some U.S. states are returning to requiring grade school students to get the MMR shot, Florida being the latest state to make that rule.

The vaccine does seem to work for most, but some people have had bad reactions, and a recent study showed that people with specific genes get no benefit from the vaccine.   Women who plan to get pregnant should get the vaccine about 30 days prior to getting pregnant.  Studies show you should not get the vaccine while pregnant.