Measles in pregnancy: a threat for Italian women?

Measles in pregnancy may lead to serious sequelae for newborns and mothers. In Italy assessment of immunity against measles is not recommended as pregnancy screening. This study aimed to assess the immunity against measles in pregnant women from Apulia Region in Southern Italy between 2016 and 2017....

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Serena Marchi, Martina Monti, Simonetta Viviani, Emanuele Montomoli, Claudia Maria Trombetta
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2019-12-01
Series:Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2019.1621146
Description
Summary:Measles in pregnancy may lead to serious sequelae for newborns and mothers. In Italy assessment of immunity against measles is not recommended as pregnancy screening. This study aimed to assess the immunity against measles in pregnant women from Apulia Region in Southern Italy between 2016 and 2017. Overall, 96.9% of pregnant women were positive for anti-measles IgG, younger women aged 19–29 years had a seroprevalence below 90%. No samples were positive for anti-measles IgM. In conclusion, younger pregnant women showed to be at higher risk of contracting measles during pregnancy. These findings have implication for measles vaccination policy and highlight the need for measles antibody testing in pregnancy screening in Italy.
ISSN:2164-5515
2164-554X