[A preliminary report of the fetal effects of dengue infection in pregnancy].

ABSTRACT

This Manuscript was read at the Clinical Aspects on Dengue Fever and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever held at Kaohsiung Medical College, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, Republic of China, November 13, 1988. There is not enough evidence to prove that the dengue virus will cause teratogenicity, abortion, or intrauterine growth retardation of a fetus during pregnancy. Nine cases of women infected with dengue fever in early pregnancy received amniocentesis (or chorion villi sampling) in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, KMCH. The chromosome analysis revealed that all were normal, and the level of alpha-fetoprotein in amniotic fluids and maternal sera were within normal range. Antibodies to the dengue virus in the dengue infected mother can cross the placenta and transfer to the fetus, which can cause new born infants to develop dengue hemorrhagic fever or dengue shock syndrome easily when they are primarily infected with dengue virus. Anti-dengue activity was found in the lipid component of human milk and colostrum. This suggests that breast feeding will protect the infant from the dengue virus in the endemic area of dengue infection.