Lesson of the week: Antenatal screening for rubella-infection or immunity?

摘要

Rubella vaccination among schoolgirls and susceptible women in the United Kingdom since 1970 has dramatically reduced the number of cases of congenital rubella syndrome and terminations of pregnancies related to rubella infection. In 1988 the combined measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine was introduced for children aged 12-15 months. Reported cases of congenital rubella syndrome declined significantly, with only a few notified cases of infection among immigrants and in infants whose mothers acquired the infection while travelling overseas in early pregnancy. Immune status of pregnant women is determined by routine antenatal screening for rubella IgG antibody, so that susceptible women can receive postpartum vaccination.