Dengue fever with bleeding manifestations in pregnancy: our experience

Abstract

Dengue fever, a mosquito borne flavivirus infection is endemic in Sri Lanka. An increased number of cases are seen in the recent past. An increase in the number of patients with secondary infection who are prone to develop complications such as bleeding manifestations, are expected due to repeated outbreaks of the disease, We report four cases of serologically confirmed Dengue fever. Different management strategies were adopted in each patient according to the clinical circumstances. Three antenatal mothers presented in 33, 38 and 39 weeks of POA and bleeding manifestations were present in all three of them. One of them died of an intracerebral haemorrhage after Caesarean section to deliver a stillborn following intrauterine death. Post Partum Haemorrhage (PPH) was experienced in another mother following caesarean section. In one patient bleeding manifestation appeared 2 days following normal delivery. She was managed conservatively. Though the clinical presentations may be similar to that of non pregnant patients, there can be many pitfalls in diagnosis and management of dengue fever occurring in pregnancy. Two of the patients described above developed acute dengue viral hepatitis, which needs to be differentiated from HELLP syndrome and acute fatty liver of pregnancy. Serological tests have a special place in diagnosis than in the non pregnant patients. The classical criteria used to identify Dengue Haemorrhagic fever (DHF), such as an increased haemotocrit and postural hypotension were not present in these patients. In management, the administration of intravenous fluids needed to be more closely observed. They seemed to be more prone to develop bleeding manifestations than non pregnant patients and therefore platelet transfusions were required in early stages. Early interventions to deliver the baby, if the other circumstances permit, seem to offer a better outcome in patients presenting in the antenatal period.