BACKGROUND: There are limited recent data on rubella immunity in women of childbearing age in Canada. In the present paper, the proportion of rubella seroreactivity and redundant testing (testing of women previously seropositive when tested by the same physician) in the Alberta prenatal rubella screening program were studied.METHODS: In the present retrospective observational study, data on all specimens submitted for prenatal screening in Alberta between August 2002 and December 2005 were extracted from the Provincial Laboratory for Public Health database. The proportion of rubella screening and immunoglobulin G (IgG) seroreactivity were determined. Demographic variables were compared between rubella seroreactors and nonseroreactors. The proportion of redundant testing was determined.RESULTS: Of 159,046 prenatal specimens, 88.3% (n=140,473) were screened for rubella immunity. In total, 8.8% of specimens tested negative for rubella IgG. Younger women (23.2% of women younger than 20 years of age versus 4.7% of women between 35 and 39 years of age; P<0.001) and women from northern Alberta (11.9% versus 8.1% [overall]; P<0.001) were significantly more likely to have seronegative specimens. Of the 20,044 women who had multiple rubella immunity screenings, 88.1% (n=17,651) had multiple positive test results. In total, 20.7% of the 42,274 specimens submitted from women with multiple screenings were deemed redundant.DISCUSSION: Younger women were most likely to be seronegative for rubella. The public health significance of women entering their childbearing years with low or undetectable rubella IgG levels remains to be determined. A large number of women with documented rubella immunity were unnecessarily retested.

中文翻译：

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加拿大省级筛查计划中孕妇的风疹免疫力。

背景：关于加拿大育龄妇女风疹免疫力的最新数据有限。在本文中，研究了艾伯塔省产前风疹筛查计划中风疹血清反应性和重复检测（由同一医生检测以前血清阳性的女性）的比例。 2002 年 8 月至 2005 年 12 月期间在艾伯塔省进行产前筛查的数据是从省公共卫生实验室数据库中提取的。确定风疹筛查和免疫球蛋白 G (IgG) 血清反应性的比例。比较了风疹血清反应器和非血清反应器之间的人口统计学变量。确定了冗余检测的比例。 结果：在 159,046 份产前标本中，88.3%（n=140，473) 进行了风疹免疫筛查。总共有 8.8% 的样本检测出风疹 IgG 呈阴性。年轻女性（20 岁以下女性的 23.2% 与 35 至 39 岁女性的 4.7%；P<0.001）和来自艾伯塔省北部的女性（11.9% 与 8.1% [总体]；P<0.001）明显更可能有血清阴性标本。在进行过多次风疹免疫筛查的 20,044 名女性中，88.1% (n=17,651) 的多次检测结果呈阳性。总共有 42,274 份来自多次筛查的女性样本中的 20.7% 被认为是多余的。讨论：年轻女性最有可能出现风疹血清阴性。进入育龄期且风疹 IgG 水平低或检测不到的妇女的公共卫生意义仍有待确定。