Rubella prevalence and its transmission in children

Rubella is a major cause of birth defects among the TORCH group of agents causing congenital anomalies. Almost all the symptomatic infected infants have long-term neurological sequelae & many asymptomatic infants also develop deafness or psychomotor retardation later in life. In India need for rubella prevention & control is being recognized. Before formulating any kind of rubella vaccination policies, data on the burden of disease is important. Hence the prevalence of rubella in children and their transmission was evaluated. Paired sera of 146 babies with suspected intra uterine infection and their mothers from lower socioeconomic strata was tested for IgM antibodies by commercially available Enzyme immunoassay (EIA) kits. Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS) was confirmed in babies presenting with rubella compatible defects with positive IgM antibodies against rubella. It was seen that out of 146-paired samples evaluated, 15-paired samples (10.27%) were positive for IgM antibodies. The transmission rate of rubella virus from mother to child when the mother was infected was around 55.55% according to this study. CRS prevalence of 10.27% among symptomatic infants is significant as a large majority of rubella infection remains undetected and hence the actual burden of the disease may be higher. Since the disease is preventable by an effective vaccination, strategies for rubella immunization should be developed and enhanced.