Abstract
Background. The objectives of this paper were to assess the prevalence of different viral infections in relation to late abortions, stillbirths, and congenital malformations in sera from Russian pregnant women and recurrent aborters in order to establish basic knowledge for future pregnancy care. Methods. Patients were recruited at the Women's Clinic, Leningrad Regional Hospital during the period March-June 1995. One group of normally pregnant women (Group 1; n =182) and one group of recurrent aborters (Group 2; n =127) were evaluated, including demographic, medical, clinical, and serological data. Results and conclusions. The mean age of the two groups was 27.1 and 28.2 years, respectively. The mean number of deliveries was low (0.4 and 0.5, respectively). Thirty-one point six percent of Group 1 and 41.9% of Group 2 were daily smokers. The group of normally pregnant women had a significantly increased frequency of induced abortions compared to the recurrent aborters, while the recurrent aborters reported more genital infections. There was little difference in total antibodies to cytomegalovirus ( CMV) (78.0% and 81.1%, respectively) or B19 IgG (75.3% and 66.9%, respectively) between the groups, while the normal pregnant women had a significantly higher prevalence of rubella antibodies (77.5% and 59.8%, respectively). Our results indicate that less women remain susceptible to primary CMV infection in pregnancy in Russia compared to western Europe and North America. The prevalence of B19 IgG was slightly lower than data from Sweden. Natural immunization against rubella virus was lower than in other, unvaccinated female populations. Vaccination strategies for rubella are now initiated in the Russian Federation. Results from this study are utilized in a federally supported, comprehensive pregnancy care project of North-West Russia.