Any infection that affects the mother during pregnancy can affect the growth and outcome of the fetus. This study aims to understand the pregnancy outcomes and the fetus based on the severity of the disease. Also, it studies the possibility of transmission of CHIKV (infection) from pregnant women to the child.
The research is conducted via retrospective observation. The study’s population is the pregnant women who birthed between Jan 2014 and Sep 2015 (CHIKV outbreak). The researchers investigated a descriptive study with 732 mother-child pair who underwent the CHIKV serologic testing by ELISA.
The main outcomes studied are complications in pregnancy, preterm labor, cesarean delivery, cervical incompetence, placental abnormality, fetal distress, and neonatal morbidity. 150 pairs (36%) had an infection during gestation. 135 pairs (33%) did not have the infection, and 131 pairs (31%) had an infection but not during gestation. Those who had infection during gestation had a shorter duration of pain in joints than those infected outside gestation period. Other pregnancy complications and outcomes of the baby were similar. The transmission of infection occurred in 1.3% of pairs and 25% in intrapartum infectio
Acute infection causes long term joint pain. Infection during the gestation posed no risk to the baby or the pregnancy. However, in cases where the mother contracted infection right before delivery, the transmission chances were higher.
Ref: https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1471-0528.16562
