Sentinel phenotype for rubella embryopathy: time-space distribution in Brazil

ORIOLI IM; LOPEZ CAMELO JS; RITTLER M; CASTILLA EE

CADERNOS DE SAúDE PúBLICA

CADERNOS SAUDE PUBLICA

Lugar: Rio de Janeiro; Año: 2011 vol. 10 p. 1961 - 1968

0102-311X

The dyad comprising eye anomalies and congenitalheart defects in the same newborn hasbeen proposed as the best sentinel phenotypefor the early detection of rubella embryopathy.Time-space birth prevalence distributions of theeye-heart dyad were described in 36 Brazilianhospitals from the Latin-American CollaborativeStudy of Congenital Anomalies ? ECLAMCnetwork, for the period 1994-2008. Seventy dyadcases observed among 554,531 births showedseasonal variation (χ2 = 5.84; p < 0.05), suggestingan environmental etiology, with an increasein cases in October-March and acrophase in December.The secular distribution of dyad prevalencerates was consistent with the distribution ofrubella cases in Brazil, showing a decrease from1994 to 2004, followed by an increase until 2008.Two geographic clusters were identified, one withhigh and the other with low dyad prevalence. Inthe high prevalence cluster, a secular increase wasobserved, starting in 1999, matching the rubellaepidemic waves observed in Brazil in 1998-2000and 2006.