Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Viruses

Measles virus, also called rubeola, and mumps virus are both RNA viruses of the family Paramyxoviridae, subfamily Paramyxovirinae; measles is in the Morbillivirus genus, and mumps virus is in the Rubulavirus genus. Rubella virus is also an RNA virus but is a member of the Togaviridae family. These three viruses, despite differences in their families and genera, are often considered together because the epidemiology of the infections they produce in humans and the preventive measures used against them are similar for all three. Measles and rubella, both of which produce rash-associated illness, and mumps, which typically infects the parotid glands, were all included among the expected illnesses of childhood in the United States prior to the introduction of vaccination programs in the late 1960s. Measles epidemics involving 500,000 to 700,000 cases occurred every 2 years (1), approximately 180,000 cases of mumps were reported annually (2), and approximately 58,000 rubella cases that included 60 congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) cases (3) were seen annually.