Schlumberger Faculty for the Future, CRDF Global (31141), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, the County Council of Västerbotten, and the Faculty of Medicine, Umeå University.

AimTo investigate maternal and perinatal outcomes (maternal death, preterm delivery, low birth weight and perinatal mortality) of dengue at PortSudan and Elmawani hospitals in the eastern Sudan.MethodThis was a retrospective Cohort study where medical files of women with dengue were reviewed.ResultsThere were 10820 deliveries and 78 (0.7%) pregnant women with confirmed dengue IgM serology at the mean (SD) gestational age of 29.4(8.2) weeks. While the majority of these women had dengue fever (46, 58.9%), hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome were the presentations in 18 (23.0%) and 12, (15.3%) of these women, respectively. There were 17(21.7%) maternal deaths. Fourteen (17.9%) of these 78 women had preterm deliveries and 19 (24.3%) neonates were admitted to neonatal intensive care unit. Nineteen (24.3%) women gave birth to low birth weight babies. There were seven (8.9%) perinatal deaths. Eight (10.2%) patients delivered by caesarean section due to various obstetrical indications.ConclusionThus dengue has poor maternal and perinatal outcomes in this setting. Preventive measures against dengue should be employed in the region, and more research on dengue during pregnancy is needed.

During 4 months (November 2010-March 2011) of an outbreak of hepatitis E virus (HEV), 39 pregnant women presented at Port Sudan Hospital, Sudan, with various symptoms of viral hepatitis. The diagnosis of viral hepatitis was confirmed by serology using ELISA anti-HEV IgG and IgM. The mean (SD) maternal age and gestational age were 24.0 (4.2) years and 33.6 (3.7) weeks, respectively. Eight (20.5%) women were primigravidae. There were 11 (28.2%) maternal deaths, 14 (36.0%) intrauterine fetal deaths, and eight (20.5%) cases of postpartum haemorrhage. There were nine (23.0%) cases of preterm (,37 weeks of gestation) deliveries. Fulminant hepatitis with hepatic encephalopathy was the most common cause of death among these patients. Nine of these women died before delivery and the other two died immediately following the delivery due to severe haemorrhage. There were no significant differences in clinical and biochemical data between the women who died (11) and those who survived.