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The incidence of congenital rubella was found to be 2-3 times higher in Asian than non-Asian births in England and Wales. This was attributed in part to higher susceptibility to rubella in Asian than non-Asian women, as shown by antenatal serological data frompublic health laboratories in Leeds, Luton, andManchester. Examination of the ethnic origin of pregnant women requesting laboratory testing after contact with rubella or rash and ofwomen with laboratory confirmed rubella in pregnancy also suggested that the disease was being underdiagnosed in pregnant Asian women. Failure to prevent congenital rubella by termination of infected pregnancies may therefore contribute to the increased incidence of the syndrome in Asians. Health education programmes about the dangers of rubella in pregnancy and of the need for vaccination can readily be promoted in the Asian community through existing ethnic organisations. Protection ofother ethnic minorities likely to be at similar increased risk may require a vaccination programme aimed at national elimination of rubelia.

Microbiological studies have identified an infective micro-organism in 28 of 54 patients (52%) with epididymitis. Chlamydia trachomatis was the commonest infection isolated, occurring in 15 patients. An additional 17 patients (31%) who were culture negative had serological evidence which suggested recent chlamydial infection. Most patients with chlamydia were under 26 years of age, in contrast to patients over 35 years, in whom coliform infections predominated. Of the 12 consorts of patients with chlamydial epididymitis who were screened, nine were also positive for this micro-organism. These findings have important implications in the management of epididymitis, especially in young men.

Sera from 3163 patients were examined for growth-inhibiting and complement-fixing antibody to Mycoplasma hominis. The results were analysed in respect of the age and sex of the patients. Antibodies were found to be uncommon in young people but increased in frequency with age; they were present in old men but were less common in women over sixty-five. Patients attending V.D. clinics and prison inmates had a much higher incidence of antibody than hospital and ante-natal patients. Complement-fixing antibody was approximately three times as common as growth-inhibiting antibody in the sample examined; it was also more common in women than men but the overall incidence of growth-inhibiting antibody was the same in each sex. It was concluded that possibly growth-inhibiting antibody is produced in more severe infections and that it disappears from the serum more quickly than complement-fixing antibody.

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