Rubella vaccine in the People's Republic of China.

The results of seroepidemiologic surveys indicate that rubella is widely prevalent in China. Congenital rubella infection has posed a threat. To control rubella and decrease the incidence of congenital rubella infection, an attenuated strain of rubella virus was developed in China. The original strain was isolated from a throat-swab specimen from a six-year-old girl with a clinical diagnosis of rubella. The strain was passaged and attenuated in human diploid cells and named BRD-2. The results of clinical trials showed that the BRD-2 virus strain has mild reactogenicity, satisfactory immunogenicity, and no transmissibility. The antigenicity and reactogenicity are comparable to those of strain RA27/3. It is anticipated that it may be put into production in the near future.