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Published on: November 5, 2019

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

BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.)
|September 8, 2001
PubMed

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.
Abstract

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