Al Dossary RA, Althuwaiqeb S, Alkharsah KR, Wanni NHO, Hunasemaranda BC, Obeid OE, Siddiqui ZI, El-Badry AA, Al Qahtani NH. Susceptibility to Rubella Infection and Incidence of Congenital Rubella Infection: 6 Years Retrospective Study.
Int J Gen Med 2022;
15:3605-3611. [PMID:
35401012 PMCID:
PMC8985818 DOI:
10.2147/ijgm.s353867]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2021] [Accepted: 03/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction
Rubella is considered one of the most serious and most common congenital infections. Despite global efforts for elimination, rubella cases are still being reported in many parts of the world. The purpose of this study is to determine the level of immunity to rubella in the community and most importantly among women at childbearing age in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia and compare it with the target set by the World Health Organization (WHO) along with the incidence of acute rubella infection and the associated congenital rubella infection and congenital rubella syndrome.
Methods
This is a retrospective cross-sectional study over the six years period (Jan 2014–Jun 2020) on all individuals tested for rubella IgM and IgG in a university teaching hospital.
Results
Nighty one percent (15,894/17,469) of the population tested showed evidence of rubella immunity with 8.8% (1546/17,469) being susceptible. Among women at childbearing age, susceptibility to rubella was higher with 9.2% (1220/13,278) of women showing no evidence of immunity. In addition, acute rubella infection was reported for 0.17% (29/17,469) of the population tested and 0.15% (20/13,278) in women at childbearing age. No cases of congenital rubella infection were reported in the study period.
Discussion
The level of Rubella immunity in the population is 91% and is less than the WHO target for rubella control therefore, risk of resurge of cases is present, indicating the need for continued national surveillance and more efforts to improve vaccination coverage in the kingdom.
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