The Prevalence of Anti-Rubella Antibody in Pregnant Women

Rubella is an acute serious viral infection in pregnancy. Rubella and its resultant congenital Rubella syndrome (CRS) are still regarded as two of the important public health problems around the world. Islamic Republic of Iran has implemented a nationwide vaccination program against measles and rubella in order to eradicate CRS since 1382 HS. Thus, performing useful researches and collecting appropriate data are imperatively needed to achieve this goal. In the same line, the aim of this research is to determine the immunity level against rubella in pregnant women who referred to the Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinic of Bahman 22nd Hospital. The study was an analytic descriptive one carried out on 73 women who referred to Bahman 22nd Hospital and the samples were selected randomly. Blood samples taken every day were immediately processed for the serum separation. The patients were 16 to 44 years old (Mean age=26.7±6.5). Only 1.4% of the patients (n=1) had been infected with the rubella virus while the other 98.6% had not. Overall, 90.4% (n=66) of the participants were immune to rubella, 8.2% (n=6) were suspected and 1.4% (n=1) were not immune. According to the findings, although the general immunity level is acceptable, it seems this level of immunity is not necessarily the result of the mass campaign vaccination, only. As the occurrence of the sporadic cases alongside the decrease in the immunity level is probable, a screening program for determining the immunity levels of rubella before marriage or pregnancy and the vaccination of susceptible persons are definitely necessary.