Rubella immune status among immigrant and nonimmigrant women in Spain

A cross-sectional study of seroprevalence of rubella antibodies was carried out in all immigrant pregnant women (1,627) from February 2006 to June 2010. For each immigrant woman one Spanish pregnant woman was recruited. The seroprevalence of IgG antibodies against rubella in immigrant women was 92% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 90.493.3), and in native women was 97.7% (95%CI: 96.798.4) (P<0.001). Immunity against was lowest among women from Latin America (odds ratio [OR]: 0.17), followed by women from Asia (OR: 0.20), Sub-Saharan Africa (OR: 0.27) and Northern Africa (OR: 0.37). Female immigrants from developing countries should be targeted for immunization to reduce the risk of congenital rubella. J. Med. Virol. 84:548550, 2012. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.