Rubella Virus Infection and Its Predictors Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care Clinic in Western Uganda: A Cross‐Sectional Study

Background: Acute rubella virus infection from the mother to the fetus, particularly during early pregnancy, can have serious consequences to the developing fetus, which has high neonatal morbidity as well as socioeconomic burdens. The World Health Organization recommends screening for rubella in pregnancy in countries with a high prevalence rate; however, in Uganda, there are no published data on the seroprevalence of rubella virus infection in pregnancy, and routine screening is not being practiced as part of the ANC package. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the seroprevalence and factors associated with rubella virus infection among pregnant women attending antenatal care clinic at Hoima Regional Referral Hospital. Methods: This was a hospital‐based cross‐sectional study carried out from July to October, 2023. Using a consecutive sampling method, 211 pregnant women were enrolled. Data were collected using pilot‐tested questionnaires, and blood for anti‐rubella virus antibodies (IgG/IgM) was tested using enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Data were analyzed using STATA Version 14.2. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to show the association between the dependent and independent variables considering p < 0.05 as level of significance at 95% confidence interval. Results: The overall seroprevalence of rubella virus in pregnancy was 152/211 (72.0%). Among all pregnant women who tested positive, the proportion of chronic rubella virus was 145/211 (68.7%), whereas the proportion of acute rubella virus was 7/211 (3.3%) in this study. History of spontaneous abortion, IUFD, and previous babies with congenital abnormalities were significantly associated with rubella virus infection in pregnancy with (aOR = 5.0; 95% CI = [2.107–11.715]; p ≤ 0.001), (aOR = 5.1; 95% CI = [1.576–17.546]; p = 0.007), (aOR = 7.2; 95% CI = [1.390–24.294]; p = 0.022) respectively. Conclusions: The overall seroprevalence of rubella virus in pregnancy was low as compared to other studies in neighboring countries. The infection was significant with respect to history of spontaneous abortion, IUFD, and previous babies with congenital abnormalities.