@article{2e805a1b510048c0a467cfec945d1700,
title = "Rubella seroprevalence in pregnant women living with and without HIV in Soweto, South Africa",
abstract = "OBJECTIVES: Rubella infection during pregnancy may cause foetal death or congenital rubella syndrome. In South Africa, the national public immunization programme does not include rubella vaccination. The aim of this study was to evaluate rubella sero-epidemiology in pregnant South African women living with and without HIV.METHODS: Serum samples obtained from women living with HIV (n=552) and without HIV (n=552) were tested for rubella immunoglobulin G antibodies using an ELISA. The proportions of women with seronegative titres (<8IU/ml) and seropositive titres (≥11IU/ml), and geometric mean titres (GMT) were compared by age group and HIV status.RESULTS: The overall proportion of rubella seropositivity was 97.8\%. The proportion of seropositive women increased with age group (18-25 years: 97.0\%; 26-32 years: 97.7\%; 33-40 years: 99.3\%; p=0.047 after adjusting for HIV status). Similar proportions of women living with and without HIV were seropositive.CONCLUSIONS: Rubella immunity was high among South African pregnant women living with and without HIV in the absence of rubella vaccination in the public immunization programme. However, a lower percentage of younger women had seropositive titres, indicating the need for routine rubella vaccination after an increase in vaccine coverage rates.",
keywords = "Adolescent, Adult, Antibodies, Viral/blood, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Female, HIV Infections/complications, Humans, Immunoglobulin G/blood, Pregnancy, Pregnant Women, Rubella virus/genetics, Rubella/blood, Seroepidemiologic Studies, South Africa/epidemiology, Young Adult",
author = "Gieles, \{Noor C.\} and Mutsaerts, \{Eleonora A.M.L.\} and Gaurav Kwatra and Louis Bont and Cutland, \{Clare L.\} and Stephanie Jones and Andrew Moultrie and Madhi, \{Shabir A.\} and Nunes, \{Marta C.\}",
note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by grants from the South African Research Chairs Initiative of National Research Foundation/Department of Science and Technology in Vaccine Preventable Diseases and the South African Medical Research Council (Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit). Funding Information: SAM has received grants from the South African Medical Research Council, the Department of Science and Technology/National Research Foundation, South Africa, the Bill \& Melinda Gates Foundation, Pfizer, Sanofi, and GlaxoSmithKline, and has participated on advisory boards for the Bill \& Melinda Gates Foundation. MCN has received grants from the Bill \& Melinda Gates Foundation and MedImmune, honoraria from Sanofi Pasteur, and has participated on advisory boards for Pfizer. LB{\textquoteright}s institution (UMCU) has received funding from AbbVie, MedImmune, Janssen, the Bill \& Melinda Gates Foundation, Nutricia, and MeMed Diagnostics. UMCU has also received support as part of the public private partnership IMI-funded RESCEU project from GlaxoSmithKline, Novavax, Janssen, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Sanofi. UMCU has received funding from Julius Clinical for participating in the INFORM study sponsored by MedImmune, for participation in trials by Regeneron and Janssen, and for consultation and invited lectures by AbbVie, MedImmune, Ablynx, Bavaria Nordic, MabXience, Novavax, Pfizer, and Janssen. LB is the founding chairman of the ReSViNET Foundation. All other authors have no interests to declare. Funding Information: This work was supported by grants from the South African Research Chairs Initiative of National Research Foundation / Department of Science and Technology in Vaccine Preventable Diseases and the South African Medical Research Council (Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 The Authors",
year = "2020",
month = feb,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1016/j.ijid.2019.12.018",
language = "English",
volume = "91",
pages = "255--260",
journal = "International Journal of Infectious Diseases",
issn = "1201-9712",
publisher = "Elsevier",
}