Daniel Eshetu
ABSTRACT
Background: Rubella is an important human pathogen that causes an acute and contagious infectious disease caused by a single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the family Togaviridae. As the clinical diagnosis of rubella is unreliable, serological tests are required for a diagnosis and the role of the laboratory is crucial in the management of rubella infection. Therefore, this study aimed to assess retrospective trends of rubella virus-specific IgM antibodies from measles suspected cases with negative/intermediate results for measles infection.
Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on 1518 samples from 2015 to 2019 at Hawassa regional Public Health Laboratory, Southern Ethiopia. Measles suspected sample tested for IgM antibody and the results were negative/intermediate for the measles virus, and those samples done for specific IgM antibody tests for Rubella virus were included in the study. Data on socio-demographic and clinical information of the patients' samples were retrieved from case-based reporting form, while results of Rubella specific IgM antibody tests were obtained from logbook of regional laboratory. Data entry and analysis was done by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.
Result: Of the total 1518 cases of measles suspected but test negative/intermediate samples were analyzed for rubella virus specific-IgM antibody. About 246 (16.2%) were positive for rubella IgM antibody. Of these 246 rubella infected cases, 122(8.0%) males and 124(8.2%) were females. Measles suspected cases with age group of 2-5 years old had a higher prevalence rate of rubella virus infection followed by age group of 6-9 years old, the rate was 6.3% and 5.1%, respectively.
Conclusion: This study highlights the significant seroprevalence of rubella antibodies among measles suspected children. Providing and incorporating rubella-containing vaccines in the immunization program is vital for the eradication of the rubella virus infection. In addition, an organized surveillance study is required for the good estimations of rubella virus infection and its impact of congenital transmission.