Seroprevalence of Rubella Immunity in Rural Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinics at a Tertiary Care Centre in Piparia, Gujarat, India

Introduction: Rubella viral infection in pregnant women is a Global Public Health concern as it has a devastating effect on developing foetus causing adverse foetal outcome or Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS). Aim: To recognise the proportion of pregnant women susceptible to Rubella infections so as to discern the risk of CRS. Materials and Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted on 90 rural pregnant women attending the Tertiary Care Centre, from September 2019-December 2019. Informed consent was obtained and a comprehensive structured questionnaire was noted regarding the sociodemographic details and reproductive history. Five mL of venous blood was tested for the presence of anti-rubella IgG using Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) kits. Data analysis were conducted using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 15.0. Results: The mean age of the population was 23.26 +/- 5 years. Overall, seroprevalence was 88.9% (80/ 90). Immunity was higher (100%) in women of 30-35 years age, 100% in lower upper class, 93.3% with higher education, 90.9% with second trimester, 90.3% multigravida and 90.5% parity. It was also observed that in all the women with low immunity (11.1%) had a history of adverse foetal outcome. Conclusion: A significant proportion of pregnant females are still susceptible to rubella virus infection shows that rubella is endemic in the study area, so antenatal screening for rubella should be mandatory and rubella vaccination in adolescent girls and women of child bearing age is the only way to reduce the menace of CRS in India.