Newborn tests positive for dengue after infected mother dies

A newborn baby boy has contracted dengue. His mother died after giving birth via emergency C-section and was infected with dengue.

Lanita Jacobs, 19, of Hampton Court, Region Two, died on Saturday last, about one week after contracting dengue.

“The baby he platelet was low and so he was bleeding and they [doctors] said they [were] treating he and now they say he got the dengue now,” the dead teen’s mother, Venetta Daniels told the News Room on Wednesday. The baby is admitted in a critical condition in the neonatal Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Suddie Public Hospital.

Dengue, a viral infection transmitted through the bite of infected mosquitoes, can potentially be transmitted from a pregnant mother to her baby, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

However, vertical transmission rates are low, and the risk is linked to the timing of the infection during pregnancy. Babies of mothers infected with dengue during pregnancy may suffer from pre-term birth, low birthweight, and fetal distress.

Daniels recalled that her daughter complained of feeling unwell on Friday, June 21. The mother explained that she contracted dengue the week prior to her daughter but she recovered. On Saturday, June 22, she took her to a pharmacy where she was given medication for pain and fever.

Jacobs was eight months pregnant. She was due to deliver her baby on July 17 and according to her mother, she was happy and eager to become a mother.

“The first day when my daughter take down, me carry she pharmacy and when them test she it show dengue,” Daniels explained.

She further added: “She said her belly hurting, and she was not eating, she was drinking bare tea.”

The mother said after her conditioned worsened she was taken to the Suddie Public Hospital on Wednesday, June 26. The mother said she had a fever, neck pains, stomachache and headache.

Hours after giving birth, the young mother was transferred to Georgetown Public Hospital the next day. Days later, on Saturday, June 28, she passed away.

“She nah see she baby before she died,” a tearful Daniels told the News Room.

Relatives reported that doctors said she experienced severe bleeding following the C-section.

Jacobs was the eldest of eight children.