Clinical-epidemiological description of live births with microcephaly in the state of Sergipe, Brazil, 2015.

OBJECTIVE

to describe the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of microcephaly cases in live births in Sergipe, Brazil, and to calculate the prevalence in its municipalities.

METHODS

this is a descriptive study on live births from September 1st to November 30th, 2015, with data from medical records and interviews with mothers.

RESULTS

83 cases of microcephaly were confirmed, with three deaths; prevalence in the 26 municipalities with confirmed cases ranged from 18 to 185/10,000 live births; the median of head circumference was 31 cm (range: 22.5-33.0); agenesis of corpus callosum (26/43), lissencephaly (12/43), absence of midline (10/43) and ventriculomegaly (8/43) were observed in the transfontanellar ultrasound; 40 mothers reported rash in pregnancy, 23 in the first trimester, with pruritus, arthralgia and headache; seven were positive for infections potentially causing malformations.

CONCLUSION

there was a high occurrence of cases of microcephaly, and reports of signs and symptoms compatible with Zika virus infection during pregnancy.