[Seroepidemiology of rubella in the Ivory Coast. Geographic distribution]

A total of 3,473 serum samples were collected from healthy subjects in five geographical areas of Côte-d'Ivoire, between July 1985 and August 1986, and were analysed for the presence of rubella haemagglutination inhibition antibodies. Rubella antibodies were present in 1,994 of the samples giving a prevalence of 57.4%. The distribution of this prevalence appeared to be influenced by the climatic conditions and the density of population. The areas of Korhogo and Sinematiali in the north with a hot and dry climate had high prevalences, while the areas of Bouake and Bondoukou in the Centre and Centre-east respectively had low prevalences. The prevalence of rubella antibodies increases with age until it reaches a relatively low level from the age of 15 onward. The analysis of the data by the chi 2 test indicates that there was a statistically significant variation in the prevalence of rubella antibodies between urban and rural communities (p less than 0.001). In the areas of Korhogo and Sinematiali the rubella virus appeared to be best circulate in the rural communities, while the reverse was observed in the areas of Bouake and Bondoukou. In this study, there was not a sex influence in immunity to rubella, because no difference immunity to the virus was observed between males and females. In women of child-bearing age (15 to 44 years) the rubella immunity was relatively low (61.2%).