Rubella virus seroprevalence and associated factors in pregnant women with and without previous spontaneous abortion

Abstract EN

Background: Rubella virus infection is associate with various pregnancy outcomes.

Usually, such infection is more prevalent among women with low positivity for protective immunoglobulin G (IgG).

Several factors are known to influence the seroprevalence of this virus.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of anti‑rubella IgG and immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies and associated factors among pregnant women with and without a history of abortion.

Materials and Methods: A total of 91 pregnant women (79 women with a history of previous abortion and 12 women without such history) were enrolled in this cross‑sectional study.

Sera were collected from each woman, and the levels of rubella IgG and IgM were measured using enzyme‑linked immunosorbent assay.

Demographic and reproductive data for the women were also collected.

Univariate logistic regression was used to find the association of factor with serostatus of the virus.

Results: The overall seropositivity for IgG and IgM was 95.6%, (95% confidence interval [CI] = 91.3–99.9) 9.89%, (95% CI = 9.68–10.1), while six women (6.59%) were positive for both types of Igs.

Two factors showed a significant association with rubella IgG seropositivity: A history of previous abortion (odds ratio [OR] = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.45.0.99, P < 0.001).

Moreover, urban residence (OR = 1.09, 95% CI = 1.0–1.19, P = 0.048).

On the other hand, younger age (≤28 years) (OR = 0.1, 95% CI = 0.01–0.82) and previous abortion (OR = 0.14, 95% CI = 0.03–0.61) were significantly associated with IgM positivity.

Conclusions: Most women are protected from rubella virus infection through possessing a high level of IgG; however, there is a considerable proportion with evidence of acute infection which indicate that the virus is endemic in the study area.