Prevalence of Varicella-Zoster IgG Antibodies among Pregnant Women living in Yazd, Iran

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection during pregnancy can treat the health of mother and fetus. The present study was aimed to determine the prevalence of VZV IgG antibodies among pregnant women living in Yazd, Iran.

In this cross-sectional, all pregnant women referred to Baghayipour clinic of Yazd city were participated. IgG Antibodies against VZV were detected by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test. Demographic data of each woman, including age, self-reported history of chickenpox, education and place of residency were collected using a questionnaire. The collected data was analyzed by SPSS software version 20. 

A total of 300 pregnant women with mean age of 28±6 years (age range: 18-46 years) were screened for VZV antibodies that 283 cases (94.3%) were seropositive. The prevalence of VZV antibodies among pregnant women in age groups of 14–23, 24–33, 34–44 years was 96.8%, 93.3% and 95%, respectively. The prevalence of VZV antibodies was not significantly associated to the educational level, place of residence, and history of infection with chickenpox.   Positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of self-reported history of varicella were 94.2% and 4.4%, respectively.

The prevalence of varicella-zoster IgG antibodies among pregnant women living in Yazd was higher than in other regions of Iran. Performing the routine vaccination against VZV is suggested to protect mother and fetus from possible complications caused by the virus.