Migrant women may need rubella vaccination
5 September 2003
Australian research has highlighted the need to consider the rubella vaccination status of women of childbearing age born in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa or South America.
(Rubella is a viral infection that causes the illness often referred to as German measles. Infection with this virus in pregnant women can cause serious birth defects in the baby. It is recommended that all women of childbearing age make sure they are immune to rubella.)
A study conducted in Melbourne found that women born in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa or South America were 5 times more likely to be rubella seronegative (that is, to lack antibodies in their blood that protect against infection with the rubella virus), compared with women born in Australia or Europe (American Journal of Public Health 2003; 93: 1274-76).
Language and religion were also predictors of lacking antibodies to rubella, the study found. Between 1996 and 2000, non-English-speaking women were 1.5 times more likely than English speakers to be seronegative, while Australian-born Muslim women were 3 times more likely than Australian-born women of other religions to be seronegative.
Patient records of more than 65,000 women who had rubella tests at Melbourne's Mercy Hospital for Women between 1976 and 2000 were analysed.
Over this period, the proportion of seronegative women decreased from 9.4 per cent to 2.5 per cent, through rubella vaccination. But the number of women with low antibody levels in their blood increased from 2 per cent to 5.7 per cent.
Last Reviewed: 08 September 2003
- 1. Medical Observer Weekly 5/9/03
