ORIGINAL ARTICLE AFRICAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY AJCEM/200975/21012 COPYRIGHT 2010
MAY 2010 ISBN 1595-689X -http://www.ajol.info/journals/ajcem
VOL 11(2)
AFR. J. CLN. EXPER. MICROBIOL 11(2): 79-94
CLINICAL STUDIES ON SEROPREVALENCE OF RUBELLA VIRUS IN PREGNANT WOMEN OF CAMEROON REGIONS. *Fokunang C.N., Chia J., Ndumbe P., Mbu P., Atashili J. Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde 1, Cameroon *Correspondence: Dr Charles Fokunang, Immunology, Biochemistry and Biotechnology Laboratory, Medical & Pharmacotherapeutic Research Group, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Science,University of Yaoundé 1, B.P. 33032, Yaoundé, Cameroon. Email:
[email protected]
ABSTRACT A study was conducted to investigate the seroprevalence of the rubella virus amongst pregnant women and the relationship it has with the duration of pregnancy, premature delivery, and past history of abortion in pregnant women visiting the Yaoundé Gynecological, Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital (HGOPY). 211 pregnant women attending the prenatal consultation of mean age 27±5.99 years were randomly selected and screened for rubella IgG antibodies. 39.3% of them were in their third trimester of pregnancy while 25.6% and 35.1% were in their first and second trimester of pregnancy respectively. 11.73% of the women had a history of premature delivery and 40.3% had a history of at least one abortion. Spearman's correlation was calculated between antibody titre and age. 88.6% of pregnant women were seropositive while 9% (susceptible) were seronagative and 2.4% had equivocal results. The most susceptible women to rubella infection were in the age group 26-30 years while women in the age group 21-25 years band were the most seropositive. There was a strong correlation between the antibody titre and age (r=0.549 p
