Actually, it’s Rubella, or German Measles that cause birth defects, not Rubeola which is regular measles.
That said, Rubeola is very dangerous in adults. Chicken Pox can make an adult quite ill too, so if she hasn’t had either the vaccine or the disease, she should see her healthcare professional.
In Spain every 12 year old girl gets it at school. The government figured out many years ago that since there’s some vaccinations due at that age (reminders of other vaccines, plus rubella for girls) and kids that age have to be at school, it’s easier and cheaper to bring the vaccines to the students than the students to the vaccines…
The controversy is over the presence of mercury in vaccines. The thing is, there hasn’t been mercury in any vaccines in the US for more than 20 years.
There have been several studies of the vaccines used today. None has shown any link to autism.
Part of the problem is autism usually surfaces at about the same time the child is getting the bulk of their immunizations. Because families want to blame something or someone for their child’s illness, they see links that don’t exist.
Absolutely, American children still get MMR. There are measles out breaks every year. It is much reduced, only about 100 cases a year. But, it’s far from eridicated.