Seroprevalence of Rubella Specific IgG Antibody among Pregnant Women Attending Ante-Natal Clinics in Kaduna Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

Rubella infection is generally mild in children. However, infection during pregnancy can leads to fetal death or congenital defects known as Congenital Rubella Syndrome. The seroprevalence of IgG to rubella virus was determined using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay among 400 pregnant women between the ages of 15-45 years attending ante-natal clinics in Kaduna metropolis. Of the 400 samples tested, consisting 20 in their first trimester, 260 in second and 120 in third trimester, 386 (96.5%) were IgG seropositive. Seroprevalence of 95.2% - 100% was obtained across the age groups. In relation to stages of pregnancy 19 (95.0%), 251 (96.5%) and 116 (96.7%) were seropositive in 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd trimesters respectively. The seroprevalence obtained in this study indicates that majority of the pregnant women had protective antibody due to previous exposure to the virus. However, 3.5% of the pregnant women were susceptible. Therefore, there is a need for government to incorporate rubella vaccine to be part of national immunization programme and screening of women of childbearing age so as to reduce subsequent burden of congenital rubella.

Keywords: Rubella, Seroprevalence, Pregnancy, Antibody, ELISA