Universal rubella vaccination programme and maternal rubella immune status: a tale of two systems

Maternal rubella status was compared between local residents with non-residents who delivered in our hospital during 1998-2008. Among the 60,822 women, non-immunity was more common in the non-residents (19.9% versus 8.1%, P<0.001). Significant difference and positive correlation with age and parity were found for both groups, but a significant inverse correlation with year-of-birth was found only in the residents. Regression analysis confirmed that birth after 1970 was associated with reduced odds of non-immunity, which indicated that the rubella vaccination programme, introduced since 1978, has succeeded in reducing the incidence of non-immunity to <5% in the youngest generation.