How useful is a history of rubella vaccination for determination of disease susceptibility? A cross-sectional study

Background Identification of pregnant women susceptible to rubella is important as vaccination can be given postpartum to prevent future risks of congenital rubella syndrome. However, rubella antibody screening is not offered as a routine practice in antenatal mothers in government run community health clinics in Malaysia at present due to cost constraint. Instead, a history of rubella vaccination is routinely asked to establish the women’s risk for rubella infection. The usefulness of this test, however, has not been established. Thus, this paper aims to determine the usefulness of a question on history of rubella vaccination in determining rubella susceptibility. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 500 pregnant women attending a community antenatal clinic. Face-to-face interviews were conducted for demographic data and history of rubella vaccination. Rubella IgG test was performed. Results History of rubella vaccination was positive in 66.6% of women, negative in 13.2% and unknown in 20.2%. Sensitivity and specificity of a question on the history of rubella vaccination for rubella susceptibility was 54.4% and 69.3% respectively; positive predictive value was 19% and negative predictive value was 92%.