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Meningitis in infancy in England and Wales: follow up at age 5 years
H Bedford1, J de Louvois, S Halket
1Centre for Paediatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Institute of Child Health, London WC1N 1EH. h.bedford@ich.ucl.ac.uk
Insights
Children who experienced meningitis in infancy face significant long-term disabilities. This study found a tenfold increased risk of severe or moderate disability by age five, highlighting the critical impact of early-life meningitis.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric neurology
- Infectious diseases
- Public health
Background:
- Meningitis in infancy can lead to severe health complications.
- Long-term sequelae in children surviving meningitis require thorough investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the prevalence of health and developmental problems in children at age 5 who had meningitis as infants.
- To compare disability rates in meningitis survivors versus a matched control group.
Main Methods:
- A prospective national cohort study in England and Wales (1985-1987).
- Follow-up questionnaires sent to general practitioners and parents of children and controls.
- Recorded causative organism and age at infection.
Main Results:
- 15.6% of meningitis survivors had a disability by age 5.
- A tenfold increased risk of severe or moderate disability was observed in children with a history of meningitis (RR 10.3).
- Significant variation in disability rates existed based on the causative organism.
Conclusions:
- Meningitis in the first year of life has significant long-term consequences.
- Almost one-fifth of children with meningitis experienced permanent severe or moderately severe disability.
- Subtle neurodevelopmental deficits were also more common in the meningitis cohort.
Objective:
To describe important sequelae occurring among a cohort of children aged 5 years who had had meningitis during the first year of life and who had been identified by a prospective national study of meningitis in infancy in England and Wales between 1985 and 1987.
Design:
Follow up questionnaires asking about the children's health and development were sent to general practitioners and parents of the children and to parents of matched controls. The organism that caused the infection and age at infection were also recorded.
Setting:
England and Wales.
Participants:
General practitioners and parents of children who had had meningitis before the age of 1 year and of matched controls.
Main Outcome Measures:
The prevalence of health and developmental problems and overall disability among children who had had meningitis compared with controls.
Results:
Altogether, 1584 of 1717 (92.2%) children who had had meningitis and 1391 of 1485 (93.6%) controls were successfully followed up. Among children who survived to age 5 years 247 of 1584 (15.6%) had a disability; there was a 10-fold increase in the risk of severe or moderate disability at 5 years of age among children who had had meningitis (relative risk 10.3, 95% confidence interval 6.7 to 16.0, P<0.001). There was considerable variation in the rates of severe or moderate disability in children infected with different organisms.
Conclusion:
The long term consequences of having meningitis during the first year of life are significant: 32 of 1717 (1.8%) children died within five years. Not only did almost a fifth of children with meningitis have a permanent, severe or moderately severe disability, but subtle deficits were also more prevalent.