The hyper-endemicity of dengue in Indonesia poses a significant threat of dengue virus (DENV) vertical transmission during pregnancy. A 29-year-old female at 38 weeks of pregnancy presented to hospital with acute fever and later confirmed with DENV infection. Due to signs of fetal distress, the neonate was delivered by emergency caesarean section. The mother developed a dengue critical phase post-caesarean with excessive bleeding and required blood transfusion. During the 6th day of life, the neonate was diagnosed and later confirmed with dengue. Next-generation sequencing of DENV RNA isolated directly from sera of both mother and neonate revealed identical DENV-2 whole-genome sequences. Plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) detected anti-dengue antibodies in both mother and neonate. Altogether, our data confirmed the occurrence of vertical transmission. Dengue vertical transmission during pregnancy may lead to severe manifestation, hence early diagnosis, close monitoring, and prompt intervention are critical.
Keywords: Dengue; Neonate; Next-generation sequencing; Perinatal; Pregnancy; Vertical transmission.
Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.