Prevalence of congenital Zika virus syndrome in children born in the Maranhão between 2015 and 2022

Patrick Leonardo Nogueira da Silva, Ludmila Araújo Garrido, Carolina dos Reis Alves Claudio Luís de Souza Santos, Ingred Gimenes Cassimiro de Freitas, Rosana Franciele Botelho Ruas, Jannayne Lúcia Câmara Dias, Ana Patrícia Fonseca Coelho Galvão

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence of congenital Zika virus syndrome in children born in Maranhão. This is a descriptive, exploratory, retrospective, cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach, carried out in Maranhão with publicly available data available through DATASUS. The sample consisted of 565 pregnant women with children born in Maranhão and reported with Congenital Zika virus Syndrome during the period from January 1, 2015 to August 31, 2022. It was observed that obstetric ultrasound was the most requested exam and showed a prevalence of normal results. Of the exams performed, altered results suggesting congenital infection or presenting other alterations prevailed. Of the pregnant women evaluated, there was a prevalence of pregnancies with female children; adequate birth weight; of the congenital alterations, only microcephaly detected in most of the children monitored; a small portion with neurological, hearing and visual impairment; discovery of postpartum alterations; gestational age over 27 weeks; and prevalence of children in the term. In 10.9% of cases, the children died. Therefore, more than half of these children monitored had significant congenital alterations detected during the postpartum period, with microcephaly being the main finding observed in imaging exams, predisposing to an increase in the rate of infant morbidity and mortality.