title: Seroprevalence of rubella in school girls and pregnant women.
abstract: Many studies have been assigned to investigate the surveillance of congenital rubella syndrome, acquired rubella and seroprevalence in different countries to determine the new vaccination program and national vaccination schedules. Seroprevalence of rubella in Turkey is still insufficient and national immunization schedules do not include routine rubella vaccination. In this study we aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of rubella at child bearing age in an unvaccinated population in Adana, southern Turkey, to help determine whether routine rubella vaccination is necessary, if so when it should be administered. Ninety-four school girls aged 12-18 years living in Adana were selected for the study and stratified according to the socioeconomic status of their parents and evaluated for rubella antibodies. One hundred pregnant women aged 18-25 years and 100 pregnant women aged 26-35 years were sampled rubella antibodies. Rubella specific IgG antibody was measured qualitatively and quantitatively by using microparticule enzyme immune assay technology. Rubella specific IgG antibody was positive in 87-94 school girls (92.5%). The geometric mean rubella specific IgG antibody value was found be 148.14 IU/ml. No correlation was found between socioeconomic status and rubella seropositivity (p = 0.6521). In all pregnant women rubella specific IgG antibody was found to be positive. In conclusion rubella vaccination should be considered carefully in developing countries. Because of the high seropositivity to rubella in our region we do not recommend rubella vaccination in early childhood. Yet this is a preliminary study and further studies with larger population size are needed to determine the national immunization policy for rubella.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Cukurova University, Faculty of Medicine, Adana, Turkey. gulbin2@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Gulbin Bingol
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Karakoc
authors.forename: Derya Ufuk
authors.initials: DU
authors.lastname: Altintas
authors.forename: Banu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kilinc
authors.forename: Aysun
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karabay
authors.forename: Neslihan Onenli
authors.initials: NO
authors.lastname: Mungan
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
authors.forename: Nurdan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Evliyaoglu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs; D007115:Immunization Schedule; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011247:Pregnancy; D012409:Rubella / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control; D012411:Rubella Vaccine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D012411:Rubella Vaccine; C040901:rubella antibodies