PREVALENCE OF ANTI- RUBELLA ANTIBODIES IN HAZARA DIVISION

Two hundred and twenty five school going girls belonging to three districts of Hazara Division, Pakistan were sampied for rubella antibodies. Age range selected was 5 to 15 years. IgG was positive in 7X.22% of cases and IgM in 24.44% of cases. The antibodies pattern and prevalence was the same in all the three districts. A clear increase of IgG was seen up to the age of II years but between 12 and 15 years of age the increase of IgG was not very significant. This study reveals high prevalence of IgG (7X.22%) up to the age of 15 years but still a very high figure of about 21.74% of girls remained susceptible to rubella at a critical period of child-bearing age (i.e. 15 years). This is in contrast to the susceptible subjects of 1.1-4.2% in developed countries.