title: Antenatal rubella immunity in Ireland.
abstract: The objective of the study was to identify those women attending for antenatal care who would have benefited from prepregnancy rubella vaccination. It was a population-based observational study of women who delivered a baby weighing < or = 500 g in 2009 in the Republic of Ireland. The woman's age, parity, nationality and rubella immunity status were analysed using data collected by the National Perinatal Reporting System. Of the 74,810 women delivered, the rubella status was known in 96.7% (n = 72,333). Of these, 6.4% (n = 4,665) women were not immune. Rubella seronegativity was 8.0% (n = 2425) in primiparous women compared with 5.2% (n = 2239) in multiparous women (p < 0.001), 14.7% (n = 10653) in women < 25 years old compared with 5.0% (n = 3083) in women < or = 25 years old (p < 0.001), and 11.4% (n = 780) in women born outside the 27 European Union (EU27) countries compared with 5.9% (n = 3886) in women born inside the EU27 countries (p < 0.001). Based on our findings we recommend that to prevent Congenital Rubella Syndrome, the health services in Ireland should focus on women who are young, nulliparous and born outside the EU.
authors.affiliation: UCD Centre for Human Reproduction, Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital, Cork St, Dublin 8.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: O'Dwyer
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bonham
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mulligan
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Farah
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Kennelly
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Turner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland / Q000453:epidemiology; D062145:Maternal Serum Screening Tests / Q000379:methods; D010298:Parity / Q000276:immunology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000379:methods; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012409:Rubella / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012410:Rubella Syndrome, Congenital / Q000517:prevention & control; D012411:Rubella Vaccine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D012411:Rubella Vaccine