ISSN: 0973-7510

E-ISSN: 2581-690X

Research Article | Open Access
Lalithambica Karunakaran1, Anitha Madhavan2 , Shyama Devadasan3, Anjana Asokan2 and Ancy Joseph4
1Gregorios Medical Mission Hospital, Parumala, Pathanamthitta, Kerala, India.
2Department of Microbiology, Government Tirumala Devasom Medical College, Alappuzha, Kerala, India.
3Fetal Medicine, Ambady Fetal And Maternal Care Centre Thrissur, Kerala, India.
4Department of OBG, Government Tirumala Devasom Medical College, Alappuzha, Kerala, India.
Article Number: 7847 | © The Author(s). 2022
J Pure Appl Microbiol. 2022;16(4):2639-2646. https://doi.org/10.22207/JPAM.16.4.31
Received: 18 May 2022 | Accepted: 02 September 2022 | Published online: 01 November 2022
Issue online: December 2022
Abstract

Rubella is a highly contagious infection caused by the rubella virus. Mothers who develop rubella early in pregnancy have a 90% chance of transmitting the infection to their unborn babies. Adverse effects on the fetus include stillbirth and congenital rubella syndrome. Pregnant women are not regularly screened for rubella antibodies in government hospitals in Kerala. Therefore, to raise awareness of healthcare providers, it is necessary to collect epidemiological data on the seroprevalence of rubella in this vulnerable group. Several sociodemographic variables as potential predictors of immunity to rubella were also analyzed. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at Govt TD Medical College in Alappuzha, Kerala, of 604 women of childbearing potential who attended the Out patient department of the Obstetrics and gynecology division for the year from June 2016 to June 2017. Rubella-specific IgG (Quantitative) ELISA was done on patients after obtaining informed consent and filling out a questionnaire through direct interview. The test sera were considered seropositive (>15 IU/ml), seronegative (<13 IU/ml), or intermediate (13 -15 IU/ml) as per the manufacturer’s instructions. Rubella seroprevalence in the study group was found to be 73.3%. Around 26.65% were nonimmune to rubella infection. About 27.4% of antenatal cases in the present study were susceptible to rubella. The primigravidae had lower seroprevalence(28.5%) than multigravidae. The percentage of seropositivity was found to increase with age. Our observations show that women of childbearing age are highly susceptible to rubella. High seroprevalence without regular childhood vaccination indicates continued infection transmission of the rubella virus in the community. Hence there is a need for proper sero surveillance in this group who has not been vaccinated, before conception to eradicate CRS and Rubella.

Keywords

Rubella, Congenital Rubella Syndrome, Seroprevalence, ELISA

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