Potential relationship between dengue fever and neural tube defects in a northern district of India.

A sudden increase in number of births of newborns with neural tube defects (NTD) was observed from June, 1989 to September, 1989 in Medical College and Hospital, Rohtak and various other government and private hospitals of the district of Rohtak. Out of a total 4785 deliveries whose records were collected, there were 87 newborns with NTD with an incidence of 18.18/1000 births which was three times higher than the previous incidence of 6.8/1000 births in the preceding 4 years. There was an epidemic of dengue fever in this area from September, 1988 to December, 1988 affecting almost one member from each family. This coincided with the period of their first trimester. Of these, 18 patients suffered clinically from dengue fever, 21 patients had positive dengue fever history in their family members, 21 patients had positive history in their neighbors. The cluster of NTD appears to be due to dengue virus infection.