Pertussis seronegativity in pregnant women in the city of Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.

OBJECTIVE

As the current recommendation of administering Tdap (tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis) to all pregnant women has not been widely implemented in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), we aimed to ascertain the prevalence of pertussis seronegativity during pregnancy.

METHODS

IgG antibodies against Bordetella pertussis toxin (PT) were measured in 213 women attending the antenatal clinic at Oasis hospital, Al Ain, UAE. Results were compared by maternal age, nationality and gestational age with the Kruskal-Wallis test for IgG-PT levels and the Chi-squared test for serology status.

RESULTS

The mean age±SD of the participants was 30.4±5.6 years, mean gestational age±SD of 25.5±3.3 weeks. Serum concentration of IgG-PT <10IU/ml were found in 160 out of 213 women (75%; 95% confidence interval 69%, 81%). There was no significant difference in the geometric mean of serum IgG-PT concentration across maternal age (P=0.80) or nationality (P=0.90). There were no differences in the prevalence of seronegativity with maternal age (P=0.65) or nationality (P=0.90).

CONCLUSION

With a high prevalence of pertussis seronegativity in pregnant women, there is a potential benefit of introducing pertussis vaccination during pregnancy into our national immunization program.