Dengue, chikungunya and zika arbovirus infections in Caribbean children.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Dengue, chikungunya and zika have caused significant epidemics in the Caribbean in recent years. This review highlights their impact in Caribbean children. RECENT FINDINGS: Dengue has been increasingly intense and severe, seroprevalence is 80-100% in the Caribbean, children have increased attributable morbidity and mortality. Severe dengue, especially dengue with haemorrhage was significantly associated with haemoglobin SC disease and multiple organ-systems involved. These included the gastrointestinal and haematologic systems with extremely high lactate dehydrogenases and creatinine phosphokinases and severely abnormal bleeding indices. Despite appropriate interventions, mortality was highest within the first 48 h of admission. Chikungunya, a togavirus, affected 80% of some Caribbean populations. Paediatric presentations included high fever, skin, joint and neurological manifestations. Children less than 5 years of age had the highest morbidity and mortality. This maiden chikungunya epidemic was explosive and overwhelmed public health systems. Zika, another flavivirus, has a seroprevalence of 15% in pregnancy, so the Caribbean remains susceptible. Paediatric complications include pregnancy losses, stillbirths, Congenital Zika syndrome, Guillain-Barre syndrome, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis and transverse myelitis. Neurodevelopment stimulation programs for zika-exposed infants have been effective in improving language and positive behaviour scores. SUMMARY: Caribbean children remain at risk for dengue, chikungunya and zika, with high attributable morbidity and mortality.

Pregnancy in sickle cell-haemoglobin C (SC) disease. A retrospective study of birth size and maternal weight gain.

OBJECTIVE: To assess pregnancy and fetal outcomes in Jamaican subjects with sickle cell-haemoglobin C (SC) disease. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective chart review over 21 years (1992-2012) of all pregnancies in SC disease and a comparison group matched by gender and date of delivery in mothers with a normal haemoglobin (AA) phenotype at the University Hospital of the West Indies, Jamaica. There were 118 pregnancies in 81 patients with SC disease and 110 pregnancies in 110 in the normal comparison group. Corrections were made for repeat pregnancies from the same mother. Outcome measures included maternal weight at 20, 25, 30, 35 and 38 weeks gestation, maternal pregnancy complications, birth weight, head circumference and crown heel length and were used to analyse possible predictors of birth weight. RESULTS: First antenatal visits occurred later in women with SC disease, who also had lower haemoglobin level and lower systolic blood pressure. The prevalence of pregnancy-induced hypertension, pre-eclampsia, ante-partum or postpartum haemorrhage did not differ between genotypes. Maternal weight gain was significantly lower in SC disease and there was a significantly lower birth weight, head circumference, and gestational age. CONCLUSIONS: Pregnancy in SC disease is generally benign but mothers had lower weight gain and lower birth weight babies, the difference persisting after correction for gestational age.