Abstract

ABSTRACT
A seroepidemiological study was carried out in Basrah from October 2003 to October 2004. The study aimed on
determination of the prevalence of rubella IgG antibody among children under 15 years of age and females at
childbearing age, rates of vaccination and provide information on immunity gap in certain age groups post
vaccination and to estimate the duration of vaccine induced immunity and the rate of overtime loss of rubella
antibody post vaccination. A total of 1309 blood samples were collected beside 80 pairs of blood samples from children
and 77 samples from females at childbearing age. Specimens were collected from primary health care centers and
primary schools. An Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) was used for detection of rubella IgG antibody.
The overall vaccination coverage was 78.9% leaving 21.1% unvaccinated. There were a variation in vaccination
coverage in different age groups, 66.9% among 2-5 years old children, 85% of 6-8 years old and 83.2% of 10-14 years
old. The prevalence of rubella antibody and vaccination coverage in rural areas (37.6%) is significantly (P<0.05)
lower than in urban areas (62.3%) among children received 2 doses of MMR. There is a significant decline in the
levels of rubella antibody overtime post vaccination and losses of protective levels of antibody was quite evident by 3-4
years after the primary doses of rubella vaccine which stress the need for booster doses. The prevalence of rubella IgG
antibody among females at childbearing age was 68.8% leaving 27.2% of those female were susceptible to rubella
with increased risk of congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) if these females catch the infection during early pregnancy.