• Nouf A AlShamlan, Reem S AlOmar, Amani S AlOtaibi, Omar Y Almukhadhib, Abeer A AlShamlan, Abdullah H Alreedy, Najwa A Zabeeri, Magdy A Darwish, and Malak A Al Shammri.
• Department of Family and Community Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
• Int. J. Clin. Pract. 2021 Jun 1; 75 (6): e14156e14156.

ObjectivesThis study aimed to determine rubella virus infectivity and immune status in pregnant females who visited the family medicine and obstetrics clinics at a large hospital in Saudi Arabia, and to identify the possible predictors of rubella susceptibility.MethodsThis registered-based, cross-sectional study included pregnant, aged between 18 and 50 years old, who presented for the first antenatal visit between 2017 and 2020. Data on sociodemographic, antenatal characteristics and serological results were collected. Chi-Squared or Fisher's Exact test and t tests were used for bivariate analysis followed by the multivariable logistic regression model.ResultsA total of 4328 pregnant were included in the study. Seroprevalence of rubella immunity was 76.41%. Positive rubella IgM antibody was identified in 1.21% of those who performed the test (17/1409). Odds of susceptibility were decreased with an increase in age (OR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.95-0.97) and in non-Saudis' (OR = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.36-0.54).ConclusionsApproximately 24% of pregnant were susceptible to rubella virus infections in this study. Screening females of child-bearing age and reimmunisation of susceptible cases before pregnancy are suggested. Further studies to investigate the impact of applying this policy in premarital screening are recommended.© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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