RESEARCH ARTICLE


Sero-Prevalence of Antenatal Rubella in UITH



O.O Agbede1, O.O Adeyemi1, *, A.W.O Olatinwo2, T.J Salisu3, O.M Kolawole4
1 Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Ilorin, P.M.B. 1515, Ilorin, Nigeria
2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Ilorin, P.M.B. 1515, Ilorin, Nigeria
3 Department of Chemical Pathology, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria
4 Department of Microbiology, University of Ilorin, P.M.B. 1515, Ilorin, Nigeria


Article Metrics

CrossRef Citations:
8
Total Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 228
Abstract HTML Views: 443
PDF Downloads: 272
Total Views/Downloads: 943
Unique Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 136
Abstract HTML Views: 296
PDF Downloads: 221
Total Views/Downloads: 653



Creative Commons License
Kolawole et al.; Licensee Bentham Open

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Ilorin, P.M.B. 1515, Ilorin, Nigeria; Tel: +234 (0)802 3333 740; E-mails: peluwa@yahoo.com


Abstract

Rubella virus is a teratogen that may induce foetal death or Congenital Rubella Syndrome in the newborn. Studies carried out in Nigeria, have recorded 68.5% prevalence in pregnant women in the south-west and 54.1% in the North-west. There has been a dearth of information in the North central. Sentinel studies have placed the incidence of rubella on a seasonal distribution, with an average of 5-9-year variable epidemic pattern.

A descriptive study was carried out on pregnant women between July and September 2009, to establish baseline data on the sero-prevalence of antenatal rubella in pregnant women in Ilorin. A total of 92 pregnant women in the first and second trimesters of pregnancy were recruited from the antenatal clinics of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital. A 3ml blood sample was collected from each consenting subject and serum assayed for Rubella IgG/ IgM antibodies by indirect ELISA test. Anti-rubella virus antibodies were reported in the sera of 14 pregnant women that participated in the study. A prevalence of 16.3% was recorded. The primigravidae had a higher prevalence (27.0%) than the multigravidae (12.0%). There was a gradual rise in seroprevalence from first trimester pregnancies (13.0%) to second trimester pregnancies (19.1%).

High seroprevalence of rubella infections during organogenesis poses high risk to foetus. Since 85% of the subjects were susceptible to rubella virus infection, it is advisable for health planners to prevent further occurrence of antenatal rubella that may result to congenital rubella anomalies by the immunisation of women of child bearing age.

Keywords: Sero-prevalence, antenatal rubella.