Assessment of Immunoglobulin IgG protective antibody level to Rubella virus in Pregnant women attending the Yaoundé gynecology, Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital (HGOPY) in Cameroon

Abstract

Rubella virus belongs to the genus Rubivirus of the Togavirus family. The infection is usually mild with infants and adults. However, it can cause devastating problems when it infects the fetus, and when infection occurs during the first few weeks of pregnancy this could sometimes lead to the death of the fetus About 5 to 25% of women worldwide of child-bearing age lack rubella antibodies and aretherefore susceptible to primary infection. This study was conducted to assess immunoglobulin IgG antibody protective levels and the relationship between the antibodies titre levels maternal age,history of premature delivery, and previous abortion, in pregnant women visiting the Yaoundé Gynecological, Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital(HGOPY). This study was conducted as a step towards producing findings that could contribute towards formulating control strategies for the Rubella virus in Cameroon, a low resource sub-saharan African Country. 211 pregnant women attending the prenatal consultation of mean age 27±5.99 years were randomly selected and screened for rubella IgG antibodies. 39.3% of them were in their third trimester of pregnancy while 25.6% and 35.1% were in their first and second trimester of pregnancy respectively. 11.73% of the women had a history of premature delivery and 40.3% had a history of at least one abortion. Spearman's correlation was calculated between antibody titre and age. 88.6% of pregnant women were seropositive while 9% (susceptible) were sero-negative and 2.4% had equivocal results. Themost susceptible women to rubella infection were in the age group 26-30 years while women in the age group 21-25 years band were the most seropositive. nactTirounth=rrmteeir0rb ebe.ol2e aadw4rnt y6iadoo s fn.t ia aptbr grseeeetstvr w oio((enrrueg==sn c00 ato..h5b0re4o9r e9r2plt 6raioe)tp,ign