Varicella Infection During Pregnancy- Maternal and Fetal Outcome; Case Series and Analysis in a Tertiary Centre in South India!

Background: This is a retrospective study undertaken to analyse the maternal and fetal outcome of varicella infection during pregnancy. Methods: This is a retrospective observational study done in Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences, Trivandrum, a tertiary care hospital in South India. Sixty nine women infected with chickenpox during pregnancy from January 2009 to February 2018 (9 years) were taken for the study. Results: The incidence of chickenpox during pregnancy in our study was 33.7 in 10000 pregnancies. There were no spontaneous miscarriages. The incidence of congenital anomalies was 7.2% and when compared to the overall obstetric population of the nine year study period in which the incidence was 6.5 %, there was no statistical significance (p- 0.99). The incidence of preterm labour was 4.7% and when compared to the overall obstetric population in which the incidence was 15 %, there was a statistically significant less incidence (p- 0.035). The incidence of polyhydramnios was 4.7% and when compared to the overall obstetric population in which the incidence was 1%, there was a statistically significant increased incidence (p - 0.018). The incidence of fetal growth restriction was 13% and when compared to the overall obstetric population in which the incidence was 12.4%, there was no statistically significant difference (p- 0.963) Conclusions: The maternal and fetal complications with chickenpox infection during pregnancy were more when infected in the first trimester. Early treatment, screening and followup will reduce the maternal and fetal morbidity