A relatively high number of pregnant women in Kuwait remain susceptible to rubella: a need for an alternative vaccination policy

Nada Madi 1, Haya Al-Tawalah, Dina Abdul Khalik, Widad Al-Nakib

Affiliations

01 January 2014

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doi: 10.1159/000356892

Abstract

Objective: To measure the prevalence of anti-rubella IgG and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) among pregnant women in Kuwait in order to assess the effectiveness of the current vaccination programs.

Subjects and methods: This retrospective study involved 4,062 pregnant women evaluated in health centers in the Hawalli Province of Kuwait. They were screened for anti-rubella IgG and HBsAg using commercially available assays. The data were obtained from medical laboratory records.

Results: The mean age of the pregnant women was 29.2 ± 5.26 years (range 17-49). The rubella IgG prevalence among the pregnant women was 88.4% (n = 3,589); 276 (6.8%) of the pregnant women had no antibody to rubella, and 197 (4.8%) had rubella antibody levels ≤10 IU/ml. Therefore, 473 (11.6%) of the pregnant women were susceptible to rubella. The proportion of susceptible women increased with increasing age from 3.4 to 10.3% and from 3.4 to 6.7% among women aged <20 years and those aged ≥40 years, respectively (p = 0.016). The prevalence of HBsAg was 0.3%, and it did not vary with age.

Conclusion: The prevalence of both anti-rubella IgG and HBsAg among pregnant women in Kuwait was relatively high. However, about 11.6% of pregnant women in Kuwait remain susceptible to rubella infection and hence congenital infection and fetal malformation.

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