Seroprevalence of Rubella Viral Infection in Women of Childbearing Age in Lokoja, Nigeria

The study aims to investigate the prevalence of Rubella IgG and IgM with reference to parity status among women of childbearing age attending Federal Medical Center, Lokoja Nigeria. Socio-demographic data were obtained using structured questionnaire before blood sample collection from the subjects. Rubella screening was done using IgG captured ELISA kits. IgG positive samples were further screened for IgM ascertain current or past infection. Of the 240 evaluated serum samples, 231 (96.25%) were positive, 3 (1.25%) had borderline and 6 (2.5%) were negative to Rub-IgG. Rub-IgM assays revealed 4(1.7%) positivity. Most of the subjects had acquired immunity before age 30. 202(91.0%) of 210(94.6%) monogamous and all recorded subjects with polygamous were positive to rubella IgG (p=0.789) while 3(1.4%) and 1(0.5%) respectively had positive result for rubella IgM (p=0.224). 186(83.6%) of 193(86.9%) and 27(12.2%) of 29(13.1%) within the parous and nulliparous group were positive to Rub-IgG (p=0.266) 4(1.9%) positive and all the subjects under nulliparous group had no current infection (p=0.694). In addition to other risk factors, parity also plays a role in exposure to the virus because it increases frequency of contact with the environment and although immunity is high among the subjects. It is therefore imperative to advocate for Rubella vaccination to avoid near miss or near death experience of the fetus