A Two-Year Follow-up of Rubella Antibodies in a Female Population with Special Reference to Reinfections

Abstract

The sera of 122 women were tested for rubella antibodies at the beginning and end of a two-year period. Four of the 17 initially seronegative women were positive by the end of the period. Four of the initially positive women had 4-fold or greater increases in hemagglutination inhibition (HI) titers, but no increase in complement fixation (CF) or platelet aggregation (PA) titers. In most cases the rubella HI titers had not changed within 2 years, and in no case had they declined below detectable level. The number of CF positives decreased from 51% to 27%, and the PA positives from 70% to 65%. The possibility that minor localized virus infections maintain rubella immunity is discussed.