Congenital and perinatal complications of chikungunya fever: a Latin American experience

Highlights • The effects of chikungunya fever (CHIKF) on pregnancy outcomes and its consequences for 169 symptomatic infants born to infected mothers at the peak of the epidemic wave in Latin America were analyzed. • Newborns with CHIKF seen at four large regional maternity hospitals in three different Central and South American countries were evaluated prospectively. • This study presents the largest series of symptomatic neonates with CHIKF analyzed so far in any region and the first involving infection by the Asian genotype of chikungunya virus. With few exceptions, the frequency of clinical findings seen in suspected cases was similar to that of confirmed patients in this series. Rash, hyperalgesia syndrome, and meningoencephalitis were significantly less common in the suspected cases in comparison to confirmed patients. Although clinical manifestations were similar to those reported previously, the percentage of neurological complications was lower. The case fatality rate was comparatively higher.