Maternal and Fetal Outcomes in Pregnant Women with Dengue Fever from a Tertiary Care Center in Northern India

Aim and background: Dengue fever (DF) is a mosquito-borne febrile illness and has a varied clinical spectrum in pregnancy.This study aims to find out the feto-maternal outcome in pregnant women with DF from July 2019 to July 2022 at a tertiary care rural institute in northern India.Materials and methods: This cross-sectional observational study was carried out during the study period from July 2019 to July 2022.Pregnant women, irrespective of the gestational age; tested positive for dengue illness and were included in the study.Baseline socio-demographic data, obstetric data, and laboratory data were noted.Neonatal outcomes and details of any complications till the time of discharge from the hospital were noted.Statistical analysis was done using software SPSS version 22.0 (Statistical Package for Social Sciences).Results: During the study period, there were 317 pregnancies complicated with fever, a total of 32 pregnancies with dengue with a mean maternal age of 24.6 3.4 years were included in the study.All women had presented with fever.Three patients presented with dengue hemorrhagic fever and one with dengue shock syndrome.Eight patients (25%) required admission to an intensive care unit for management.Platelet transfusion was required in 9 cases.Six patients had a preterm delivery; cesarean section rates were 34.4%.Around 9.4% of cases were complicated with ARDS, 15% were reported to have acute kidney injury (AKI), and 18.8% and 3.1% had a postpartum hemorrhage and hematoma formation, respectively.Around 12.5% mortality was observed among the study population.The mean birth weight of the neonates was 2375 965 gms.A total of five stillbirths were reported during the study. Conclusion:With a high maternal mortality rate of 12.6%, dengue during pregnancy adversely impacts both maternal and fetal outcomes.Clinical significance: Early diagnosis, close materno-fetal monitoring, and timed interventions are essential to improve the feto-maternal outcomes.