These antibodies remain in the bloodstream for years. The presence of certain antibodies means a recent infection, a past infection, or that you have been vaccinated against the disease. Rubella also called German measles or 3-day measles usually does not cause long-term problems. But a woman infected with the rubella virus during pregnancy can transmit the disease to her baby fetus.
And serious birth defects called congenital rubella syndrome CRS could develop, especially during the first trimester. Birth defects of CRS include cataracts and other eye problems, hearing impairment, and heart disease. Miscarriage and stillbirth are also possible consequences for pregnant women.
The vaccination to prevent rubella protects against these complications. A rubella test is usually done for a woman who is or wants to become pregnant to determine whether she is at risk for rubella. Several laboratory methods can be used to detect rubella antibodies in the blood. A test for rubella is done to find out if:. Some babies born with birth defects may be tested for congenital rubella. In general, there's nothing you have to do before this test, unless your doctor tells you to. A health professional uses a needle to take a blood sample, usually from the arm.
When a blood sample is taken, you may feel nothing at all from the needle. Or you might feel a quick sting or pinch. There is very little chance of having a problem from this test. When a blood sample is taken, a small bruise may form at the site. Each lab has a different range for what's normal. Your lab report should show the range that your lab uses for each test.
The normal range is just a guide. This correlates with the deduction that the percentage of immune women increase with increased maternal age. However, post-epidemic rubella antibody prevalence in Ghana among pregnant women is associated with younger age.
The non-significant difference associated with the ages in this study, could suggest that most infections were probably acquired before that age. The result showed that all pregnant women in their first and most in their second trimester are sero-immuned, therefore their babies are not at risk of CRS.
Prevalence of This is in agreement with the findings that there is an increase in the number of rubella immune women with each pregnancy outcome. The prevalence rate of The highest prevalence among primary school graduates is possibly due to their low level of education and hence, low socio-economic condition.
These findings are in contrary to report that secondary school graduates were the most infected with 19 Rubella vaccination has been reported to be very efficient and cost-effective in preventing CRS. A combination of selective and universal vaccination strategies has been recommended.
Vaccination against rubella is also not part of the Nigerian national or local immunization programs and preconception counseling of women of reproductive age about rubella is also not routine in Nigeria. We have provided evidence of high seroprevalence of rubella IgG in pregnancy in Nigeria. The immunity gap in this study was high and this therefore buttressed the need for rubella vaccination to be given to these women and their children. However, further studies on the susceptibility of women of child bearing age needs to be carried out countrywide.
Furthermore, studies to determine the prevalence of CRS is necessary so as to highlight the risk of rubella. There is the need for awareness creation on the rubella and CRS with disease surveillance countrywide. With the high seroprevalence of rubella IgG obtained in this study coupled with the scarcity of rubella screening kits, unavailability of rubella vaccine with no national immunization policy underscores initiating organized routine screening and vaccination programs in antenatal clinic settings in this country.
In addition, vaccination programs should be implemented among children, adolescents and women of child bearing age. Source of Support: Nil. Conflict of Interest: None declared. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Int J Prev Med. Olatunji Mathew Kolawole , Ekuntoye O.
Anjorin , 1 Daniel A. Ekuntoye O. Daniel A. Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer. Correspondence to: Dr. E-mail: gn. Received Mar 23; Accepted Oct 5. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3. This article has been cited by other articles in PMC.
Abstract Background: Infection of mothers with Rubella virus during pregnancy can be serious; if the mother is infected within the first 20 weeks of pregnancy she is likely to have miscarriage, stillbirth, or baby with congenital rubella syndrome. Methods: This study is a cross-sectional sero-survey of rubella IgG antibody among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, Nigeria.
Results: Of the sample evaluated for rubella Immunoglobulin G antibody, Conclusions: As the immunity gap in the studied population was high, rubella vaccination should be provided for all women of child-bearing age and children. Keywords: IgG antibody, Nigeria, pregnant women, rubella. Research instrument Interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to obtain socio-demographic and fertility information such as age, gestation age, gravidity, rubella vaccination history, education and occupation.
Statistical analysis SPSS version 15 was used for all analyses of data. Table 1 Prevalence of rubella IgG antibody by age group. Open in a separate window. Table 3 Prevalence of rubella IgG antibody by socio-demographic characteristics.
Frey TK. Molecular biology of Rubella virus. Adv Virus Res. Jawetz, Melnick and Adelbergs Medical Microbiology; pp. Evidence base of incubation periods, periods of infectiousness and exclusion policies for the control of communicable diseases in schools and preschools. Pediatr Infect Dis J.
Rubella virus and birth defects: Molecular insights into the viral teratogenesis at the cellular level. Transmission is typically through inhalation of infectious aerosolized respiratory droplets and the incubation period following exposure can range from 12 to 23 days. Primary in utero rubella infections can lead to severe sequelae for the fetus, particularly if infection occurs within the first 4 months of gestation.
Congenital rubella syndrome is often associated with hearing loss and cardiovascular and ocular defects. This is a qualitative test and the numeric value of the AI is not indicative of the amount of antibody present.
AI values above the manufacturer recommended cutoff for this assay indicate that specific antibodies were detected, suggesting prior exposure or vaccination. Individuals testing positive are considered immune to rubella infection. Submit an additional sample for testing in 10 to 14 days to demonstrate IgG seroconversion if recently vaccinated or if otherwise clinically indicated.
The absence of detectable IgG-class antibodies suggests the lack of a specific immune response to immunization or no prior exposure to the rubella virus.
IgG-class antibodies to rubella virus may be present in serum specimens from individuals who have received blood products within the past several months, but who have not been immunized or experienced past infection with this virus. Serum samples drawn early during acute phase of infection may be negative for IgG-class antibodies to this virus.
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