Dengue fever during pregnancy

Abstract

Dengue fever during pregnancy is an expanding issue in Southeast Asia; however, the knowledge of adverse effects on mothers and neonates remains limited. Therefore, we aimed to determine the impact of dengue fever. The clinical information of 20 patients of dengue fever during pregnancy in Vietnam from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015 was collected and their outcomes were retrospectively investigated. A total of 18 patients (90%) presented with positivity of nonstructural protein 1, and a primary infection. Additionally, 4 patients (20%) had preterm deliveries and 1 (5%) had a stillborn child. All live-born neonates were discharged from the hospital uneventfully. Also, 6 patients (30%) required platelet transfusion and 3 of them received transfusion before delivery, but there were no maternal death. In addition, 3 cases of patients (15%) developed to postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), and their platelet concentrations were significantly lower than those of patients without PPH [90.0 (19.0 - 374.0) × 10³ vs. 40.0 (12.0 - 57.0) × 10³ cell/μl, p = 0.001]. In addition, patients with PPH also presented with elevated liver enzymes. Pregnant patients with low platelet counts should be recognized as being at high risk for PPH.

Keywords: dengue fever; postpartum hemorrhage; thrombocytopenia.