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Rubeola (Measles) Antibodies, IgG
Test CodeRUBEO
Alias/See Also
Epic: LAB657
Preferred Specimen
Specimen Type: Serum
Collection Container: Serum gel
Specimen Volume: 3 mL
Minimum Volume
0.5 mL
Other Acceptable Specimens
Collection Container: Red top
Instructions
Centrifuge and separate cells after clot formation and within 4 hours of collection.
Transport Container
Plastic vial
Specimen Stability
Room temperature: Unacceptable
Refrigerated: 9 days
Frozen: >9 days
Reject Criteria (Eg, hemolysis? Lipemia? Thaw/Other?)
Unlabeled, mislabeled, wrong tube type, QNS, severely hemolyzed samples and any sample from which the lipid layer has not been removed.
Methodology
Chemiluminescent Immunoassay (CLIA)
Setup Schedule
Daily
Report Available
1 day
Reference Range
≥ 16.5
A positive result indicates exposure to measles virus or previous vaccination and provides presumptive evidence of immunity.
A positive result indicates exposure to measles virus or previous vaccination and provides presumptive evidence of immunity.
Clinical Significance
Measles is an acute viral illness caused by a morbillivirus of the paramyxovirus family and is one of the most easily transmitted diseases. Transmission is primarily by large droplet spread or direct contact with nasal or throat secretions from an infected person.
After infection, measles virus invades the respiratory epithelium of the nasopharynx and spreads to the regional lymph nodes. After two to three days of replication in these sites, primary viremia widens the infection to the reticu-loendothelial system. Following further replication, secondary viremia occurs five to seven days after infection and lasts four to seven days. During this viremia, infection and further virus replication may occur in skin, conjunctivae, respiratory tract and other organs, including spleen, thymus, lung, liver, and kidney. Viremia peaks 11-14 days after infection, and then declines rapidly over a few days .
Prior to vaccine availability, measles was mostly a disease of childhood, but measles vaccination programs (part of measles, mumps, rubella, varicella [MMRV] vaccination) have had a marked effect on the incidence of the disease and the complications associated with it. After prolonged periods of high vaccine coverage in developed countries, measles transmission now occurs mainly in people that have never been vaccinated and in older children who did not seroconvert following vaccination. Measles outbreaks can still occur in countries with high immunization coverage. Such outbreaks demonstrate an immunity gap in the population involved.
Clinically, the diagnosis of measles is supported if Koplik's spots are detected and if the rash progresses from the head to the trunk and out to the extremities. The non-specific nature of the prodromal signs and the existence of mild cases, however, make clinical signs unreliable as the sole diagnostic criteria of measles disease. As disease prevalence falls, many medical practitioners are inexperienced in recognizing measles, increasing the need for laboratory serological method of distinguishing measles from other clinically similar diseases .
Both IgM and IgG antibodies are synthesized during the primary immune response and can be detected in the serum within a few days of rash onset. IgM antibody levels peak after about seven to ten days and then decline rapidly, being rarely detectable after six to eight weeks. IgM is generally not detected in an immune individual following re-exposure to measles virus . Re-exposure to the measles virus induces a strong anamnestic immune response with a rapid boosting of IgG antibodies, which prevents clinical disease.
After infection, measles virus invades the respiratory epithelium of the nasopharynx and spreads to the regional lymph nodes. After two to three days of replication in these sites, primary viremia widens the infection to the reticu-loendothelial system. Following further replication, secondary viremia occurs five to seven days after infection and lasts four to seven days. During this viremia, infection and further virus replication may occur in skin, conjunctivae, respiratory tract and other organs, including spleen, thymus, lung, liver, and kidney. Viremia peaks 11-14 days after infection, and then declines rapidly over a few days .
Prior to vaccine availability, measles was mostly a disease of childhood, but measles vaccination programs (part of measles, mumps, rubella, varicella [MMRV] vaccination) have had a marked effect on the incidence of the disease and the complications associated with it. After prolonged periods of high vaccine coverage in developed countries, measles transmission now occurs mainly in people that have never been vaccinated and in older children who did not seroconvert following vaccination. Measles outbreaks can still occur in countries with high immunization coverage. Such outbreaks demonstrate an immunity gap in the population involved.
Clinically, the diagnosis of measles is supported if Koplik's spots are detected and if the rash progresses from the head to the trunk and out to the extremities. The non-specific nature of the prodromal signs and the existence of mild cases, however, make clinical signs unreliable as the sole diagnostic criteria of measles disease. As disease prevalence falls, many medical practitioners are inexperienced in recognizing measles, increasing the need for laboratory serological method of distinguishing measles from other clinically similar diseases .
Both IgM and IgG antibodies are synthesized during the primary immune response and can be detected in the serum within a few days of rash onset. IgM antibody levels peak after about seven to ten days and then decline rapidly, being rarely detectable after six to eight weeks. IgM is generally not detected in an immune individual following re-exposure to measles virus . Re-exposure to the measles virus induces a strong anamnestic immune response with a rapid boosting of IgG antibodies, which prevents clinical disease.
Performing Laboratory
Inova Laboratories
2832 Juniper Street
Fairfax, VA 22031
Last Updated: April 14, 2023
Last Review: N. Wolford, April 14, 2023