Perinatal transmission of acute dengue: First case reported in Turks and Caicos Islands

Abstract

We report a newborn baby boy readmitted to the hospital at 7 days of life with acute dengue due to vertical transmission. A 32-year-old primigravida at 38+ weeks of gestation, with no antenatal care and with severe pre-eclampsia, delivered a normal term baby boy by spontaneous vaginal delivery and recovered uneventfully during her postpartum period. The normal term baby boy was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for five days due to low birth weight for gestational age, and was asymptomatic except for the transient initial mild thrombocytopenia, from which he recovered uneventfully during the following 48 h. He developed a high-grade fever on day 7 of post-natal life (48 h after being discharged). The baby was treated with appropriate fluid management of antibiotics and paracetamol administered intravenously. Blood cultures were negative and other laboratory findings were unremarkable. He did not have a fever during his admission and was discharged uneventfully after seven days. Clinical diagnosis of acute dengue virus infection was confirmed by laboratory tests of IgG and IgM antibodies in both the baby (on the readmission day) and mother (from the first blood sample on the day of delivery, seven days prior to readmission). The mother acknowledged having fever and bone pain four days prior to delivery; however, the information was not relayed when she was admitted during labor due to language barriers.