Dengue in pregnant women: characterization of cases in Brazil, 2007-2015.

OBJECTIVE

to characterize the probable cases of dengue in pregnant women reported in Brazil, from 2007 to 2015.

METHODS

descriptive study of sociodemographic, epidemiological, clinical and laboratory characteristics, with data from the Information System for Notifiable Diseases (Sinan).

RESULTS

the annual incidence of dengue in pregnant women ranged from 3.3 (2009) to 816.6 (2010) cases per 100 thousand live births; of the 43,772 probable cases of dengue in pregnant women, 81.6% were investigated, 34.1% were confirmed by laboratory tests, and 1.7% were severe cases; hospitalization and fatality rates were of 5.4% and 1.6‰, respectively; the risk of death due to dengue was higher in pregnant women than in the population of non-pregnant women at reproductive age (ratio=3.95; 95%CI=3.07;5.08), and higher in the third trimester of pregnancy (ratio=8.55; 95%CI=6.08;12.02).

CONCLUSION

the results show the burden of dengue in pregnant women and their vulnerability to worsening of the disease and death.