Rubella is an important infection, especially in women who are pregnant; a pregnant woman with rubella may give birth to a child with congenital rubella syndrome. Rubella has recently shown signs of having become an epidemic.
Herein, we report the case of a 34-year-old male patient who visited our otorhinolaryngology outpatient department with the chief complaint of swelling in the neck, and was diagnosed as having rubella. He had been seen at several medical institutions but had not yet been correctly diagnosed, and was then referred to our hospital. Examination at our outpatient department revealed a palpable 15-mm lymph node in the post-auricular region. He had bilateral bulbar conjunctival hyperemia and Forchheimer spots on the hard palate. Pale disseminated small erythematous lesions were scattered on his chest, back and both legs. We made the diagnosis of rubella based on the clinical symptoms/signs and blood results.
We must also consider the diagnosis of rubella in patients who present with fever, rash, and cervical lymphadenopathy. In particular, when significant lymphadenopathy is noted in the posterior cervical region or post-auricular region, it is necessary to perform careful examination of the patient for rashes and Forchheimer spots in the oral cavity.
