SEROPREVALENCE OF RUBELLA IgG AND IgM ANTIBODIES IN INFANTS SUSPECTED OF HAVING RUBELLA INFECTION

This study was conducted to assess clinical and laboratory screening for suspected congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) and to evaluate the efficacy of reporting of CRS cases at the Children’s Hospital and the Institute of Child Health. A total of 100 infants suspected of having rubella infection were included in the study. Rubella titer was used as an indicator. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay was performed to detect rubella specific IgM and IgG. The data was analyzed on infants’ birth weight, infants’ clinical characteristics and laboratory evaluation. The study shows that out of 100 Infants, only three (3%) met the definition for confirmed rubella whereas thirty-four patients were positive for Rubella IgG only. Ninety-seven other children had clinical presentation that met the definition for a probable case but when they were tested for Rubella specific IgM antibodies, the tests were negative. Rubella IgG positive patients were further categorized on the basis of their age; 33 (97%) infants were of less than six months and only 1 (3%) infant was of more than six months. Average age of the patients was 2.2 months (SD±1.55). The common clinical presentations in rubella positive patients (n=3) were failure to thrive (100%), cataract (67%), patent ductus arteriosus (67%), microcephaly (67%), intracranial calcification (33%), buphthalamus (33%), and hepatosplenomegaly (67%). With regard to hematological abnormalities in the three rubella confirmed cases, three had anemia (100%), two infants had thrombocytopenia (67%), and only one infant had leucopenia (33.3%). The relatively high rate of susceptibility indicated a risk of a rubella outbreak, and the resulting. Congenital rubella syndrome is an under-recognized public health problem in Pakistan and can be reduced by vaccinating all seronegative women. There is an urgent need for the collection of appropriate data to estimate the cost effectiveness of a potential Rubella Control Programme.