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THE LABORATORY DIAGNOSIS OF RUBELLA 1. THE 1968–1969 RUBELLA EPIDEMIC IN QUEENSLAND
Author(s) -
Allan Beverley C.,
Cook Ian
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1970.tb77998.x
Subject(s) - rubella , rubella virus , medicine , congenital rubella syndrome , serology , rash , immunology , pediatrics , antibody , virology , measles , vaccination
During the 1968–1969 rubella epidemic in Queensland, 553 patients were referred during a ten‐month period to a virus diagnostic laboratory, either for investigation of a current illness resembling rubella, or for tests to discover whether contact with a rubella case had resulted in infection. The hæmagglutination inhibition test was established as the method of choice in the diagnosis of current rubella infection and in following contacts, provided that the first serum was taken at a suitable time, within a few days of the onset of the rash, or within 14 days of contact, respectively. The test is useful in determining immunity status in patients with high levels of antibody. The protective effects of very low levels are not yet known, and for the present, low levels are best regarded as being non‐specific. Congenital rubella is less satisfactorily investigated by serological methods and reliance must be placed on virus Isolation. Five women contracted rubella despite injection with 20 ml of human normal immunoglobulin between 15 and 45 days earlier. It should be stressed that as rubella tests can be performed in most Australian capital cities, the various clinical problems arising In relation to rubella infection can now be accurately investigated.