How can rubella during early pregnancy cause congenital cataracts?

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eye disease An ophthalmologist performing LASIK eye surgery.

When a woman is infected with the rubella virus during the early stages of pregnancy, the virus can cross the placenta from the maternal bloodstream to the fetus. This prenatal infection can disrupt normal fetal development, leading to a group of conditions known as congenital rubella syndrome.1

While the exact cellular mechanism causing congenital cataracts is a result of this viral interference during critical periods of organogenesis, the syndrome is characterized by defects in the eye, heart, brain, and large arteries. The risk of these severe birth defects is highest during the first 20 weeks of gestation. To prevent such complications, it is essential for women of childbearing age to ensure they have immunity to rubella, typically through the MMR vaccine, prior to becoming pregnant.1