Seroprevalence of Rubella Virus in Women with Spontaneous Abortion

Problem statement: Recurrent abortion is a difficult medical problem happening in about 1-2% of fertile women. Rubella is of high public health importance owing to teratogenic effects that can lead to fetal death, miscarriage, stillbirth, or infants during the first 16 weeks of gestation. As there were not data about role this virus in abortion in this area of IRAN, this study was conducted to assess the seroprevalence of Rubella virus in women with spontaneous abortion in comparison with healthy women (without history of abortion) in South of IRAN in order to establish basic knowledge for future pregnancy care in this area of IRAN. Approach: Present survey basically was carried out in Shariatee Hospital of Hormozgan University of medical sciences, Bandarabbas, Hormozgan province, located in border of Persian Gulf-2005. A number of 220 women with definite diagnosis of previous abortion and 200 matched women with normal full term delivery and without history of miscarriage as controls were studied as case and control groups. All obtained sera from the case and the control groups were then tested using ELISA method for determine of rubella virus antibodies. Data was analyzed, using SPSS software (chi square and t-test). Results: There were significant differences in seroprevalence of anti-rubella IgG and IgM in the case group than in the control group. Conclusion: According to the results of our research, rubella virus is presented as an etiologic factor for spontaneous abortion in this area of IRAN.