Measles infection in pregnancy

Objectives: Measles during pregnancy has deleterious effects on both the perinatal outcome and the mother. However, in-depth knowledge about gestational measles is lacking. The objectives of this study were to describe the clinical course of eight cases of gestational measles and to study the effect of measles and pregnancy on each other. Methods: From late 2000 to early 2001, we experienced a measles outbreak with eight infected pregnant women. The clinical course of each case is described in detail. Result: Three of the four cases before 24 weeks of gestation ended in spontaneous abortion or stillbirth. The clinical course of the three abortions and stillbirth were singular because of the sudden onset of the abortion and the spontaneous pregnancy termination. In contrast, the four pregnancies after 25 weeks of gestation ended in live-term delivery and two out of the four neonates were diagnosed with congenital measles. There was no maternal death, instead two pneumonia cases and one hemorrhagic shock case. Conclusions: Gestational measles may potentially damage the fetus and is one of the serious complications that can occur during pregnancy. (C) 2003 The British Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.