ntroduction: Rubella infection in pregnancy may cause severe complications, including still birth, miscarriage, preterm labor, growth deficiency, congenital malformation, blindness, cardiac defects, central nervous system abnormalities, and congenital cataract and hearing loss. The purpose of this study was to investigate the seroprevalence of rubella in pregnant women presenting to our hospital for routine antenatal examination, to compare our results with those from other countries, and to contribute to the literature by discussing opinions concerning rubella screening in pregnancy with data from 27.465 patients.

Material and Methods: This retrospective study involved anti-rubella IgM and IgG screening results of pregnants in the first trimester, aged 17-45 and presented to our hospital for antenatal examination between 2013 and 2016. Data were collected from the hospital’s electronic records system and patient files. Rubella antibody levels were determined using commercially available ELISA kits (ALISEI SEAC, Italy) in the medical microbiology laboratory. Anti-rubella IgM-positive cases were also evaluated using the avidity test. The results were analyzed using the SPSS v.15.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA) data analysis system.

Results: Rubella IgM antibody positivity was determined in 205 (0.8%) of 27.465 pregnants whose anti-rubella IgM status was investigated, and positive values were observed in 16.526 (9.2%) of 17.186 cases subjected to anti-rubella IgG antibody analysis. Anti-rubella avidity tests revealed high avidity in 92.7% of patients, low avidity in 3.4%, and intermediate avidity in 3.9%.
Conclusion: We think that rubella screening during pregnancy is essential, and that the best means of reducing the adverse effects of rubella virus would be to provide full immunization before pregnancy for females of child-bearing age.

Keywords: Pregnancy, rubella, prevalence, screening, seroprevalence