DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2015.v03i07.059

Pages: 2733-2737

Mass vaccination has helped to effectively eliminate rubella infection in most developed countries. Unfortunately, declining uptake rates due to concerns about the vaccine, moral objections and increasing numbers of cases in some European countries where rubella surveillance and pre-conceptional vaccination are inadequate has started to show in the number of rubella susceptible patients being diagnosed. A retrospective review of all of the patients attending the West Middlesex University Hospital in Isleworth (UK) was undertaken to see if the number of patients susceptible to rubella was increasing. Over a six year period the number of rubella susceptible patients increased from 4.3% to 6.6% of the 30756 specimens tested. Although, this increase was not significant the distribution of susceptible patients was higher in the area with the highest ethnic minorities.