Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34018485›Full record

ArticleEuro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin2021

Pitfalls of rubella serology while on the brink of elimination: evaluation of national data, Belgium, 2017.

Sofie Colman, Kris Vernelen, Bernard China, Dorien Van den Bossche, Laura Cornelissen, Marie-Luce Delforge, Marijke Reynders, Mario Berth, Melissa Depypere, Natasja Van Gasse and 4 more

Open access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 32% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors at 7 institutions in 1 country.

Sofie ColmanClinical Laboratory of Microbiology, OLVZ Aalst, Aalst, Belgium.
Kris VernelenQuality of Laboratories, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium.
Bernard ChinaQuality of Laboratories, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium.
Dorien Van den BosscheExperts Committee EQA Infectious serology, Quality of Laboratories, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium.
Laura CornelissenEpidemiology of Infectious Diseases, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium.
Marie-Luce DelforgeExperts Committee EQA Infectious serology, Quality of Laboratories, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium.
Marijke ReyndersExperts Committee EQA Infectious serology, Quality of Laboratories, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium.
Mario BerthExperts Committee EQA Infectious serology, Quality of Laboratories, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium.
Melissa DepypereExperts Committee EQA Infectious serology, Quality of Laboratories, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium.
Natasja Van GasseHospital Network Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
Sara VijgenGeneral Hospital Jessa, Hasselt, Belgium.
Jos Van AckerGeneral Hospital AZ Sint-Lucas, Ghent, Belgium.
An BoelClinical Laboratory of Microbiology, OLVZ Aalst, Aalst, Belgium.
Elizaveta PadalkoUniversity Hospital Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
Sciensano (Belgium) · BEOnze Lieve Vrouwziekenhuis Hospital · BEAntwerp University Hospital · BEAZ Sint-Jan · BEErasmus Hospital · BEGhent University Hospital · BEJessa Hospital · BE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BackgroundIn Belgium, rubella serology is frequently requested in women of childbearing age, despite high vaccination coverage and a near-absence of congenital rubella cases. Different test kits are available and should be standardised by an international standard preparation.AimTo analyse and compare rubella serology practices in Belgian laboratories.MethodsAs part of the mandatory External Quality Assessment programme for rubella serology in Belgium, the national public health institute, Sciensano, sent a voluntary questionnaire concerning anti-rubella IgM/IgG analyses in women aged 15 to 45 years in 2017 to 130 laboratories.ResultsThe questionnaire response rate was 83.8% (109/130). The majority of 169,494 IgG analyses were performed on Roche (55%), Abbott (17%) and Diasorin (13%) analysers. Not all laboratories used the proposed international cut-off of 10 IU/mL. Assumed median seroprevalence ranged from 76.3% with Liaison (Diasorin) to 96.3% with Modular (Roche). Despite very low rubella incidence in Belgium, 93 laboratories performed 85,957 IgM analyses, with 748 positive and 394 grey zone results. The National Reference Centre for Measles, Mumps and Rubella virus and the National Reference Centre for Congenital infections did not confirm any positive rubella cases in 2017.ConclusionThis retrospective analysis shows that rubella serology results may differ considerably according to the assay used. It is therefore important to use the same test when comparing results or performing follow-up testing. The number of anti-rubella IgM analyses was very high. Incorrect use of IgM for screening women of childbearing age can lead to unwarranted anxiety and overuse of confirmation tests.

Indexed as

MeaslesRubellaAntibodies, ViralBelgiumFemaleHumansMeasles-Mumps-Rubella VaccineRetrospective StudiesSeroepidemiologic StudiesAntibodies, ViralMeasles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccineepidemiologyrubellaserology

Identifiers

PMID34018485
PMCPMC8138961
OpenAlexW3162027554

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.