Seroprevalence of rubella in pregnant women in Kashmir

Abstract

The present study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of rubella in pregnant women in Kashmir. One thousand nine hundred and eighteen pregnant women in age group of 20-35 were divided into two groups. Group I (n=892) consisted of women with previous history of repeated abortion (507), single abortion (220), intrauterine death (149), stillbirth (14) and premature delivery (2). Group II (n=1028) pregnant women with previous normal delivery. A total of 1918 pregnant women were screened for rubella IgM antibodies out of which 16.74% were positive. In women with bad obstetric history (Group I) 26.12% were positive as compared to 8.96% in women with no significant obstetric history (Group II). The IgM antibody positivity was higher in women with previous history of intrauterine death (IUD) 58.38% followed by stillbirth 57.14%, premature delivery 50%, abortion 21.8% and recurrent abortion 17.55%. The high prevalence of disease in this region demands urgent needs for prevention. Moreover antenatal cases should be screened as early diagnosis and time intervention will help in proper management of these cases.