Abstract

RUBELLA SEROPREVELANCE AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN IN KHARTOUM, SUDAN

Eltayeb A. M.*, Kafi S. K. and Eljack M. S.*

Abstract

Background: Rubella and CRS has been eliminated in many developed countries and aimed to in some developing countries Many African countries including Sudan are lagging behind. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional survey conducted during the period from Nov. 2013 to Jan. 2014. It included 148 pregnant women who attended the ANC at two of the largest Hospitals in the Capital. Possible risk factors were assessed by well-structured questionnaire and sera were analyzed for rubella IgG by semi-automated ELISA. Results: 134 were rubella IgG positive (90.5%).Among all potential risk factors and associations past history of abortion (ρ value 0.019), being in the Capital within last 8 yr. (ρ value = 0.030) and crowding in the house (ρ value 0.016) were found to be significant. Only one has been vaccinated against Rubella (0.67%). Conclusion: In this study 90.5% of the population was found to be Rubella IgG seropositive; potentially protected as classified by WHO. That means the Rubella susceptibility rate is 9.5%. An extensive national surveillances regarding rubellaand CRS prevalence is important for full evaluation. Then adoption of immunization strategy against rubella, which is costeffective, is recommended.

Keywords: Rubella, Seropositive, IgG, ANC, ELISA.