This latest volume provides a comprehensive review of the latest developments and research studies on the pathogenesis and molecular biology of human congenital infections. It reviews current diagnostic techniques and epidemiological data while describing the progress in research and understanding of continuing prevention of congenital infections and prognosis.

Since its introduction in the 1960s, rubella vaccination has substantially changed the epidemiology of rubella and congenital rubella nationally and internationally. Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of congenital rubella births have been averted, but the infection continues to inflict a considerable burden in many countries. Different national and regional approaches to rubella control, the ease with which infection can be imported across national boundaries, and the fact that infection is usually mild and frequently asymptomatic, mean that the elimination of rubella will be no easy task. Success in controlling rubella will depend on a sustained political and economic commitment to vaccination and surveillance over the long term. This book highlights the enormous challenges to be faced, through an up-to-date appraisal of the molecular, clinical, laboratory and epidemiological features of rubella and congenital rubella in the vaccine era.