Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Apr;305(4):855-858.
doi: 10.1007/s00404-021-06204-6. Epub 2021 Aug 27.

Maternal and perinatal outcomes during a Chikungunya outbreak in Kassala, eastern Sudan

AbdelAziem A Ali  1 , Tajeldin M Abdallah  2 , Shimos A Alshareef  2 , Abdullah Al-Nafeesah  3 , Ishag Adam  4
Affiliations

Maternal and perinatal outcomes during a Chikungunya outbreak in Kassala, eastern Sudan

AbdelAziem A Ali et al. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2022 Apr.

Abstract

Background: Arboviruses (dengue, Zika, and chikungunya) have recently emerged as an important public health issue and can lead to adverse obstetrics outcomes. The current study was conducted to assess maternal and perinatal outcomes following chikungunya fever/infection and to compare adverse pregnancy outcomes with data from the community collected in a previous study.

Methods: This study was performed during a chikungunya infection epidemic in Kassala, Sudan by recruiting all pregnant women with a confirmed chikungunya fever diagnosis by using antibodies/detection viral RNA using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction.

Results: Ninety-three pregnant women with confirmed chikungunya infection were enrolled. Their mean (standard deviation) age and parity were 31.6 (3.4) years and 3.5 (1.4), respectively. Of the 93 women, 58 (62.4%) delivered a live infant at term and 18 (19.4%), 13 (13.9%), and 4 (4.3%) women experienced miscarriage, preterm birth, and stillbirth, respectively. In the logistic regression model, severe thrombocytopenia (platelets < 50,000 cells/mm3 (odds ratio [OR] = 5.1; confidence interval [CI] 1.8-14; P = 0.001) and leukopenia (OR = 4.5; CI 2.2-8.8; P < 0.001) were predictors for poor obstetric outcomes in pregnant women with chikungunya fever. The rates of miscarriage (18/93 [19.3%] vs. 1/71 [1.4%], P < 0.001) and preterm birth (13/93 [13.9%] vs. 2/71 [2.8%], P = 0.003) were significantly higher in the current study compared with the rate in the community.

Conclusion: Chikungunya infections during pregnancy were associated with miscarriage and preterm birth. Women with severe thrombocytopenia and leukopenia were at higher risk of poor obstetric outcomes. Women with severe thrombocytopenia and leukopenia were at higher risk of poor obstetric outcomes.

Keywords: Arboviruses; Chikungunya; Miscarriage; Pregnancy; Preterm birth; Stillbirth.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Wilder-Smith A, Ooi E-E, Horstick O, Wills B (2019) Dengue. Lancet 393:350–363. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32560-1 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Weaver SC, Lecuit M (2015) Chikungunya virus and the global spread of a mosquito-borne Disease. N Engl J Med 372:1231–1239. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmra1406035 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Weaver SC, Reisen WK (2010) Present and future arboviral threats. Antiviral Res 85:328–345 - DOI
    1. Paul BJ, Sadanand S (2018) Chikungunya infection: a re-emerging epidemic. Rheumatol Ther 5:317–326. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40744-018-0121-7 - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Mohamed N, Magzoub M, Mohamed REH et al (2019) Prevalence and identification of arthropod-transmitted viruses in Kassala state, Eastern Sudan. Libyan J Med 14(1):1564511. https://doi.org/10.1080/19932820.2018.1564511 - DOI - PubMed - PMC

LinkOut - more resources