Dilemma of dengue fever in pregnancy a clinical management experience at a tertiary care hospital

Objective: to present clinical features,management and maternal outcome of pregnant women with dengue fever. study design: a descriptive observation study. setting: obstetrics & gynaecology department of sir ganga ram hospital,lahore and chaudry rehmat ali trust hospital. duration of study: september 2011-november 2011. material & methods: demographic characteristics of patients were recorded. complete blood count,specifically platelet count,liver function tests were done serological evaluation was done for dengue igm. paracetamol and parenteral fluids were prescribed. all pregnant patients who were seropositive for dengue virus,presenting at any gestational age through opd and emergency of obs & gynae department,sir ganga ram hospital,lahore. all seronegative pregnant women were excluded. results: the study included 18 pregnant patients presenting at different gestational ages between 34-41 wks of gestation. there patients presented with symptoms of 3-10 days duration. the average duration of symptoms at presentation was 6 days. fever was predominant symptom (88.8%) as were myalgias (83.3%) and nausea (94.4%). conclusion: where the dengue fever is highly suspected in cases of febrile pregnant women,thorough investigations should be carried out to confirm infection and prevent further maternal and fetal complications.