Objective: To investigate the impact of dengue infection on pregnancy outcomes in pregnant women at a tertiary care hospital in Thailand.

Materials and Methods: Using a retrospective cohort study design, the authors reviewed hospital medical records to obtain socio-demographic, obstetric data, maternal, and neonatal outcomes of 48 pregnant women with dengue infection and randomly selected 500 pregnant women without dengue infection. Data on infection-related variables were also collected for those diagnosed with dengue infection. The association of dengue infection with maternal and neonatal outcomes was examined using multivariate logistic regression.

Results: Among 48 dengue infected pregnant women, 57% were Grade I dengue infection, and dengue infection affected pregnant women throughout the three trimesters. The most common presenting symptoms were fever, myalgia, and headache. Dengue-infected pregnant women had more preterm labor than non-dengue-infected pregnant women (25.0% in dengue group versus 11.6% in non-dengue group, p=0.008). There was no difference between the two groups in maternal mortality and other maternal outcomes as well as neonatal outcomes. In a multivariate logistic regression, maternal dengue infection doubled the risk of preterm labor, while severe preeclampsia increased the risk by almost four folds (adjusted odds ratio 2.099; 95% CI 1.005 to 4.384 and 3.763; 95% CI 1.480 to 9.569, respectively).

Conclusion: Dengue infection was associated with a two-fold increased risk of preterm labor in Thai pregnant women. However, it did not increase risk of maternal mortality nor adverse neonatal outcomes.

Keywords: Dengue infection in pregnancy, Pregnancy outcomes, Neonatal outcomes

Received 13 Feb 2019 | Revised 13 Dec 2019 | Accepted 6 Jan 2020