Surveillance of congenital rubella and the immunity status to rubella in the Jerusalem area.

A retrospective study on the incidence of congenital rubella (CR) in the past 10 years in the Jerusalem area was conducted. After the 1972 epidemic, which resulted in 48 cases of congenital rubella, few sporadic cases of CR appeared each year, and in the 1978-79 period the number of CR cases was relatively small. Immunity to rubella in different categories of population (children 3 months to 18 years, college students, nurses in pediatric, newborn and intensive care units, student nurses, and women of childbearing age) was determined by hemolysis in gel (HIG) and hemagglutination inhibition (HI) methods. Susceptibility was defined as an absence of antibody at a dilution of 1:16 in HI, and hemolysis of less than 7 mm in the HIG test. Compared with previous studies on the incidence of antibodies to rubella in women of childbearing age, a mild decrease in the percentage of sero-negative women was found.