Resumo

MORICE, Ana; GONZALEZ, Luis  e  CASTILLO-SOLORZANO, Carlos. Tendencias de la inmunidad a la rubéola en mujeres de edad fértil y pre-escolares en Costa Rica 1969-1996. Acta pediátr. costarric [online]. 2005, vol.19, n.1, pp.13-18. ISSN 1409-0090.

To determine the trends in sero-susceptibility to rubella in pre-school children and women in fertile age from 1996 to 1996 in Costa Rica. Methods The antibodies levels to rubella were determined in pre-schoolers aged 1 to <7 years (n=259) and 15-45 year-old women (n=381), using a sub-sample of the serum bank (SE=5%, confidence 95% ), representative at urban and rural level, of the 1996 National Survey of Nutrition. Sera samples were processed using ELISA technique;considering susceptible if IgG antibody levels <10 UI/mL. We analyzed the trends in seroprevalence and changes in the percentage of susceptible to rubella in pre-schoolers and women 15-39 years using the surveys of the years 1969, 1973, 1980, 1985 and 1996. Results In 1996, 36.5% of women aged 15 a 45 years and 7. 3% of pre-schoolers were susceptible to rubella. No significant differences (p<0.05) in susceptibility levels between urban and rural areas were found in pre-schoolers (8.0%, IC95%=4.3-12.4 vrs 6.2%, IC95%=2.1-11.3), nor women (31.6%, IC95%=25.6-37.6 vrs 44.2%, IC95%=36.1-52.4). Between 1969 and 1996 the percentage of susceptible pre-school children decreased from 86.3% (IC95%=84.5-88.1) to 7.3% (IC95%=4.2-10.8), but in women aged 15-39 years-old the proportion increased from 23.8% (IC95%=20.7-26.9) to 36.5% (IC95%=31.5-41.5). Conclusion The patterns of rubella immunity in Costa Rica changed since the introduction of MMR vaccine in one year old children in 1986, shifting the susceptible groups to the fertile women

Palavras-chave : Rubella; sero-prevalence; immunization; pre-school children; fertile age; congenital rubella syndrome.