Epidemiological evaluation of rubella virus infection among pregnant women in Ibadan, Nigeria
- Published
- Accepted
- Subject Areas
- Global Health, Infectious Diseases, Pediatrics, Public Health, Women's Health
- Keywords
- Anti-rubella, CRS, Nigeria, rubella, rubella virus, vaccine-preventable
- Copyright
- © 2015 Adewumi et al.
- Licence
- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ PrePrints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
- Cite this article
- 2015. Epidemiological evaluation of rubella virus infection among pregnant women in Ibadan, Nigeria. PeerJ PrePrints 3:e790v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.790v1
Abstract
Abstract: Rubella is a vaccine-preventable, mild rash-inducing viral disease with complications that include a spectrum of birth defects in the developing foetus, especially if the infection is acquired in the early months of pregnancy. Consequently, the primary objective of global rubella control programmes is prevention of congenital rubella infection and associated birth defects often collectively referred to as congenital rubella syndrome.Despite the availability of safe and effective vaccines, and elimination of rubella virus in many developed countries substantial commitment to rubella control has not been demonstrated in the developing countries. This study appraises immunity to rubella, and consequently makes appropriate recommendations aimed at facilitating effective control. A cross-sectional sero-surveillance study was carried out among 272 consenting ante-natal clinic attendees in south-western, Nigeria. Prevalence rates of 91.54% and 1.84% were recorded for anti-rubella virus (anti-RV) IgG and IgM respectively. Also, 90.7% and 92.3% of the women aged ≤30 years and ›30 years respectively had detectable anti-RV IgG. No significant association (p=0.94) was recorded between anti-RV IgG detection and age of the women. Previous exposure and susceptibility of significant fraction of the population to rubella infection were confirmed. Considerable political commitment and promotion of free rubella immunization specifically for women with childbearing potential were recommended.
Author Comment
This is a new submission to PeerJ for review. A prior version of the manuscript has been rejected after peer review at PeerJ.