Rubella virus antibodies in women of childbearing age

Rubella is a common contagious disease with mild constitutional symptoms, but when it occurs during pregnancy there is significant risk of severe damage to the fetus. A study was undertaken to determine the level of rubella virus antibodies in females in the childbearing age (from 15-40). A total of one hundred and thirty sera were examined for rubella-specific IgG antibodies by hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) test. Ninety out of these sera were examined also by ELISA, for comparative purposes. It was found that, by HAI test, the percentage of antibody positive sera in the females was 72.2% (HAI titer greater than 1:16), while by the more sensitive ELISA test, the percentage of antibody positive sera was 92.2% (50 IU/ml antirubella IgG). The most susceptible females were in the age group of 20-25 years. The need to ensure the protection of seronegative susceptible women of childbearing age by immunization before marriage or pregnancy is emphasized. ELISA is more sensitive, rapid, specific, reproducible and easily adaptable test to large scale screening than the conventional HAI test.