Microcephaly in Piauí, Brazil: descriptive study during the Zika virus epidemic, 2015-2016.

Objective: to describe the occurrence and characteristics of microcephaly cases in Piaui, Brazil, during an epidemic of Zika virus infection in 2015-2016. Methods: descriptive study using data of live births from January/2015 to January/2016, obtained from the Information System on Live Births (Sinasc), the Public Health Events Registry (RESP) and the active search for medical records; mothers and live births were tested for dengue, chikungunya, and Zika, besides syphilis, toxoplasmosis, rubella, cytomegalovirus, and herpes (STORCH). Results: of the 75 microcephaly cases, 34 were related to congenital infectious process; microcephaly prevalence was of 13.6/10 thousand live births; imaging exams confirmed that 34 live births presented calcifications, 23 had cerebral atrophies, 14 had lissencephaly, 12 had ventriculomegaly and 6 had dysgenesis; none tested positive for STORCH, dengue or chikungunya; 1 was IgM positive for Zika. Conclusion: there was an outbreak of microcephaly in Piaui, possibly related to infection during pregnancy Zika virus.