Microcephaly in Brazil: prevalence and characterization of cases from the Information System on Live Births (Sinasc), 2000-2015.

Objective: to describe the prevalence coefficients and characterize cases of microcephaly at birth in Brazil from 2000-2015.

Methods: this is a descriptive study with data from the Information System on Live Births (Sinasc). The coefficients were calculated by region and characteristics of mothers and live births (LB).

Results: the annual average number of microcephaly cases was 164 for the period 2000-2014, whilst in 2015, 1,608 cases were registered (54.6 cases per 100 thousand LB). Higher coefficients were observed among preterm babies (81.7; 95%CI 72.3;92.2), born from black-skinned (70.9; 95%CI 58.5;85.9) or to brown-skinned (71.5; 95%CI67.4;75.8) women, to women aged ≤19 (70.3; 95%CI 63.5;77.8) or ≥40 (62.1; 95%CI 46.6;82.6), with ≤3 years of study (73.4; 95%CI 58.2;92.4) and residents in the Northeast region (138.7; 95%CI 130.9;147.0).

Conclusion: the high number of microcephaly cases in 2015 reinforces the importance of Sinasc and the need to improve the surveillance of congenital anomalies.