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.

Keywords:
Pregnant Women; Dengue; Descriptive Epidemiology