RUBELLA

Rubella virus causes a very common infectious disease in humans, accompanied by a typical diffused rash. The course of the illness is generally short and without complications. However, it is harmful for the fetus if contracted during pregnancy, because the virus is teratogenic and may cause very serious malformations especially during the first month of pregnancy. It is therefore essential to determine the patient's state of immunity before the start of pregnancy, if possible, in order to perform vaccination or, if this is impossible, to monitor the course of the pregnancy to observe whether seroconversion occurs. Several methods are employed for the assay of specific immunoglobulins. Of these methods, the ELISA technique offers the advantage of being completely automated.

Method:

Immunoenzymatic method for the quantitative determination of IgG-class antibodies, qualitative determination of IgM-antibodies and the qualitative determination of the avidity of IgG class antibodies to Rubella in human serum. The test is based on the ELISA principle (Enzyme Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay) which uses the reaction between the antibodies present in the tested sample and the immobilized antigen bound to solid phases. The immunoglobulins bind to the antigen through incubation with diluted human serum. The result is expressed as an INDEX (ratio between the OD value of the sample and that of the Cut-off) for qualitative tests and in International Units (IU/mL) for quantitative tests.